Wait
by xxCindaxx
Summary: [Shisui Uchiha - Modern AU] Shisui Uchiha has left the country to study abroad in Europe. He left behind his best friend Itachi, as well as his good childhood friend Arisa. Before he left, he had the intention of telling Arisa a secret, but decided that instead, he would tell her after he came back from his trip abroad. "Will you listen?"
1. Step 1

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #1

* * *

I could feel his heart beating under my cheek. His hands were rough but his touch was gentle on my back. His dark curly hair tickled my cheek and was soft to feel. His hot breath neighboured my ear as he whispered, "I'm sorry...this will be the last time."

"What? Where are you going, Shisui?" I questioned. I pulled away from his chest and let my fingers glide along his strong jawline, eventually stopping on his shoulder. His expression was soft but held seriousness.

"I..." He started off hesitantly, straying his eyes away from mine and to the ground. "I'm going to Europe to study abroad for a few years." He waited for a moment before glancing to look at my reaction. Judging by how surprised he is, he probably didn't think I'd react this way.

"Shisui, it's great that you're going to Europe to study abroad! That's a once in a lifetime experience!" I grin. The news didn't bother me. Maybe it was because he told me where he was going, or maybe it was because I know we'll find a way to communicate even when we're separated by countries. "How long are you going for?"

"3 years. It's not too long, but I'll be returning around year 11 here, so I guess we'll still graduate together...?" His brows raised in question, before he took a step forward to me. His hand rested on my shoulder. "Make sure you stay safe, you hear me? I don't want you trying to break your leg or something, okay?"

I giggle. Sadness suddenly overcomes me as I give him a small smile. "I'll miss you, you know?"

Letting a grin takeover his face, the Uchiha wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into another tight embrace. He was laughing gently, making his body vibrate as he squashed me in his bear hug.

"I'll miss you too! Don't become too rebellious! I need to be able to recognize you when I come back!"

"We'll have video chat so we'll be able to see each other often. Wouldn't matter too much, would it?"

"Video chat is nothing compared to the real thing! I want my best female friend next to me! Not a video!"

"Well...in Europe, a video's better than nothing, right? It'll be easier than trying to stick me into your suitcase!" I end up laughing with him.

Finally when our laughter stopped, Shisui loosened his grip and placed his chin on top of my shoulder. We were close in height at 14, but he hadn't hit his growth spurt yet, even though he's already pretty tall.

"Make sure you tell me everything, ok? Itachi should still be here as well, so he's another that you can talk to, if I'm not there." Shisui spoke gently.

"Mhmm. By the way, when you said it was the last time...I don't get it? You're only going away for a few years; you're coming back. Doesn't that mean it won't be the last time?" I question the handsome male.

Shisui looked a little taken aback, but then he chuckled and ruffled my hair so that it messed up. "I meant that it will be the last time for this year and the next few."

I nodded in understanding. "When are you leaving?"

"Actually...I'm leaving tonight." Shisui took a step back and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Wait...TONIGHT?!" I exclaimed loudly. I was too shocked for words. How dare he tell me that he was going, on the day he was going!

"Yeah...it was pretty last minute stuff. Not too many people know about it, but the school knows so it should be fine." Shisui shrugged casually.

I sigh and ran my hand through my hair to smooth it, before nodding. "Alright. If your flight's tonight, you should get ready. Good luck over there! Stay safe, Shi-chan." I extend my hand and curled it into a fist.

Shisui got the message and bumped his fist with mine in the same fashion, grinning just as widely.

Before he left, he glanced towards me, "There's something I want to tell you after I come back. Will you listen?" His gaze on me was solid and he waited for an answer.

With a nod, I said, "Of course! What do you think I've been doing these past 10 years?" I joke and wave my hand in front of my face. "But yeah! I will. You can tell me anything. I won't judge you."

Shisui's lips melted into a charming smile, before he was off. "See you in 3 years! Or on Skype or whatever." He did a carefree salute before exiting.

I muse, "Something to tell me, huh...?"


	2. Step 2

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #2

* * *

"Gah. Shi-chan, it's too hot over here!" I complain with a frown, fanning my face with a makeshift paper fan. "Is it hot where you are?"

On the screen on Skype's video chat, Shisui grinned. "Nice to see you too! Well, it's not too hot over here. It's warm but not enough to make me melt."

"Yeah, you're so hot that you melt like ice cream." I laugh and slap my knee from amusement. "How do you like my commentary?" I poke out my tongue playfully.

"A very...nice commentary?" His words were unsure and he raised his eyebrows in question. In the end, he ended up laughing. "That's cute." His cheeks livened to a baby pink.

"Yeah, I know I am!" I burst out in laughter after trying to hold a straight face, but to no avail. I waved my hand in front of my face and shook my head in disagreement. "No way, no way! I'm not."

"Whatever you say!" Shisui sang lightly. He smiled. "Anyway, with all seriousness, how are you doing? It's been a few weeks since I've come here and settled."

"Actually, I'm quite okay. Not too bad right now. Except the heat. Wish summer was over already! But I don't like winter either...why isn't there an in between?!" I sigh greatly and pout with a lower protruding lip.

Shisui let his melodic laughter ring through my ears. It lifted my energy levels. Sometimes I wonder if Shisui's a drug that can make people happy. A happy drug. But not the illegal kind.

"Is Itachi there as well?" Shisui asked suddenly.

I blink and nod my head. "Yeah. Itachi went to the store not too long ago to get something cold to eat. We're on our study break right now."

"Who knew you studied?" The onscreen Uchiha joked.

A smile broke out on my lips. "If you were in front of me physically I would push you."

"I'm safe!" He made a peace sign with his hand.

"I'm back." Itachi's voice was soft but loud.

"Ah, speak of the devil." Shisui commented.

"Itachi, in here." I called.

The sound of Itachi's feet against the ground came closer before he finally came into the room. He noticed Shisui on the screen and waved, giving him a small smile.

"Hey, Shisui." He greeted.

"Sup, 'Tachi? Miss me?" Shisui waved.

Itachi glanced to my direction, handing me the bag of ice cream he brought with him. I mentally screamed from happiness. Those who buy me food are friends for life!

"Ignoring me..." Shisui crossed his arms.

"Thanks." I take the bag and peer inside, seeing a few different kinds. I pick out a random one and start eating, giving the bag to Itachi so he could pick out what he wanted.

"...where's my share?" The oldest Uchiha grumpily added.

"The country you're in isn't hot enough. This is ours baby!" I pointed my thumb to myself, smiling with a wooden spoon in my mouth. Yes, I took one that required scooping.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, can I talk to Itachi alone? Sorry, Arisa." Shisui sounded sincerely apologetic.

I shrug. "Sure, sure. Just tell me when I can come back in." I take a few more ice creams and go outside onto the balcony, taking a seat on one of the chairs.

I glance down at the food I had brought with me. Maybe I took too many ice creams...

I wonder what they were going to talk about? Eh, I shouldn't ask. I'm just being nosy. Bah, they're probably doing some secret talk again. Are they going to perform a magic ritual or something? With all the secrecy and all?

"What the hell am I thinking?" I shake my head and sit up, eating my ice cream.

Hm..oh wait, Itachi _is_ an Uchiha. Shisui is _also_ an Uchiha. They're probably just talking about Uchiha things.

Which reminds me...I haven't seen Sasuke in a long time. Wonder how the kid's doing? He should be...uh...wait, how old is he again? Alright, let's see...Shisui and I are the same age, older than Itachi by 2 years. Meaning Itachi's a 6th grader...Sasuke's 5 or 6 years younger than him...so...that makes Sasuke in grade 1 and...7 years old?

I make a weird face trying to figure out the math. He was still a little kid, but I'm a little unsure of his age. Huh, I should ask Itachi about it later.

I watch the clouds move in the sky. There weren't a lot of clouds, but they did look nice and fluffy and white. Is this what my neighbour looks at all the time?

I glance to my right and stare. Yup, there's that familiar spikey ponytail and that bored look. He was staring at the clouds too.

"Hi Shikamaru!" I wave a lazy arm in his direction.

The boy, who was the same age as Sasuke, turned his head with a bored expression. "Hi Arisa." His eyes flickered around my balcony before he looked back up at the sky. "You looking at the clouds too?"

"Yeah. Shisui and Itachi are talking." I close my eyes and exhale, leaning back onto the chair.

"There aren't many clouds out today." The youngster mused. He stood up and yawned, before giving me a lazy wave and going inside.

"Cute little kid." I started eating my second ice cream. "Urgh, when are the Uchiha's going to be done...?"


	3. Step 3

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #3

* * *

"Alright, I don't think I'll be able to contact you guys for a few days. We have this camp we have to attend." Shisui explained.

"A camp? Okay...sounds fun! Have fun, okay? Make sure you take lot of pictures! I want to see the scenery there too!" I grin at the Uchiha.

Itachi nodded briefly at his older cousin. "Have fun, Shisui."

"Thanks guys!" The curly haired male grinned and waved at us before the screen went black.

I closed the tab and sighed, flipping onto my back on the ground. It was much cooler than standing up. After all, hot air rises.

"Ne, Itachi..." I start. I just remembered something Shisui had told me not too long ago, on the day he left.

Itachi turned to face me, looking down from above (he was seated). He didn't give much of a reply, but I knew he was listening.

"What do you think Shisui meant?" I stare up at the ceiling instead.

Itachi shifted in his spot. "What did Shisui say?" His voice held confusion.

Oh. So Itachi _didn't_ know. I think I automatically assumed he did because he was Shisui's best friend.

I roll onto my side so that I faced the younger kid. "Before Shisui left - actually, on the day, he told me that he wanted to tell me something when he got back. Do you know what it is?"

Itachi's brows had knitted together and he was thinking. His expression then softened and he gave me a small smile, shaking his head.

"I'm not too sure." He replied.

Hearing his answer made me pout. It honestly made me think that he was hiding something.

I study the boy for a long while. Itachi just stared back, blinking with confusion.

"Are you okay...?" He questioned.

I'm totally okay, just that I think you're hiding something from me! I wanted to say, but I shouldn't put too much pressure on the kid. After all, I don't think he'll end up talking about it if he's hiding something.

"I'm fine!" I give him a smile and sit up, stretching and loosening up my body. I check the time, seeing that it was the late afternoon.

"I should get going." Itachi stood up and picked up all his belongings.

"Ah, alright. You want me to walk you home?" I offer.

"That's up to you." The 12 year old shrugged. He made his way to the door. I followed behind him, seeing as there was nothing I had to do after.

"Well, I'll come along then!" I put on my shoes and we left the house.

Itachi's home was right opposite mine. Same with Shisui's. Yup, so Shisui and Itachi are neighbours, but they're also cousins.

I've known them since I was born, really. My parents were good friends with theirs. I think my Mum still goes over there to chat with theirs every week or something.

I suddenly remember that I had wanted to confirm Sasuke's age. I turn to the shorter male, "Hey, Itachi, how old is Sasuke?"

"7." He replied. "His birthday is soon, as well." A small and gentle smile was on his face.

That guy really loved his brother.

"I haven't seen him in ages!" I rest my arms above my head, intertwining the fingers.

"Actually, you saw him yesterday." Itachi deadpanned.

"...did I?!" My eyes widen and I raise a brow, trying to think back.

Did I really see him? Nothing's appearing in my memory bank...

"Eh...sure, I might've."

"You can see him today." Itachi opened the door to his house. Not long 5 seconds after he had opened the door, Sasuke had come out of nowhere and basically catapulted and attached to Itachi.

I nearly stumble because of the surprise 'attack'.

"Nii-san!" Sasuke hugged his elder brother tightly.

"Sasuke, Arisa's here to see you." Itachi tilted his head into my direction.

I give the cute boy a wave and lean down slightly so I'm more to his height. "Hey there Sasuke! How are you?"

"Arisa-san! I'm good! How about you?" He responded so cutely I nearly gushed. This is probably why Shisui loves Sasuke so much as well! His cuteness is absolutely off the charts!

"I'm good-!"

"Ah, Arisa?" A womanly voice came from the hallway. It was Mikoto, Sasuke and Itachi's mother. She was a beauty that was also off the charts.

"Ah, Mrs Uchiha! Hello! It's nice to see you again!" I bow my head slightly for respect.

The woman just laughed and she wiped her hands on her apron. "Arisa, no need for formalities, you can call me Mikoto!"

I swear I've been through this with her over 1000 times. Honestly, I do want to honour whatever she wants me to call her, but I tried it once and Fugaku - Itachi and Sasuke's father - gave me this incredibly stern look. It was actually quite intimidating! And from then on I haven't actually said what Mikoto wanted me to...

"Ah...no, I couldn't possibly..." I laugh nervously. If Fugaku was around he'd probably glare at me until 2 holes were burned into my skull.

Mikoto shrugged and smiled. "Would you like to come in?"

"Oh, no, no, it's fine! I've got a few things to do at home so I'm a little busy." Which is true; Mum left me with cooking dinner before they came back.

"That's a shame. Tell your mother and father I said hello!" Mikoto smiled and waved as I returned home watching me safely enter before closing the door. I briefly saw Itachi and Sasuke waving.

I sigh, rubbing the back of my head.

"Time to cook dinner..."


	4. Step 4

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #4

* * *

"Yuko. It's nice to meet you." A hand extended out to me.

I blinked, taking in the teen that had approached me. Now, I found that weird. People don't normally approach me. But I haven't seen him around before, so...

"Arisa. Nice to meet you too. Are you new here? I haven't seen you around before." I shook his hand absentmindedly.

Yuko's smile was a thousand dollars. It was quite dazzling - nearly made me squint at how bright it shone. I could hear girls in the background just screaming out his name internally, and externally (except they probably didn't know they're doing so).

In response to the girls in the background, he sent them another million dollar smile. I swear I could see heart eyes and hearts floating around them. But then again, I might be hallucinating.

I turn my attention back to Yuko, meeting those incredibly blue eyes of his. They reminded me of the ocean and the reflection of the night sky. He had a sharp facial features that made him model-worthy, but the slightly messy brown hair gave him a boyish charm that screamed 'adorable'. I think I know why the others are going crazy over him. I guess he is good looking.

"Yes, I'm new here. I just transferred today, actually. Can you show me around?" He suggested. His tone had a slight begging aspect to it.

I smile and nod, shoving my hands into my pockets. Inclining to see the time, I realise class is about to start.

"Actually, maybe later. Class is going to start." I point to the clock. As it ticked to the hour, the bell rung loudly.

People filed in and out of classrooms, getting to their classes on time.

Yuko turned to me, "I'm not too sure where to go...I have my schedule with me, but..." he took out said schedule and stared at it with his brows raised.

Since he wasn't that much taller than me, I peer over to see what his classes were. For period 1, he had Food Technology.

"You have Food Tech first. All you need to do is go down the stairs and find the kitchen. It should be on the right after getting down the stairs." I explain.

"Food tech? So I make food?" It was a rhetorical question, but he still asked it. He was silent for a long while, but then glanced at me, putting his best puppy dog eyes.

I nearly stumbled back and fell. Sparkles were just shimmering eternally around him and his eyes were so round and big, contrary to what his original look was.

"W-what is it?" I stammer. I regained my cool and balanced myself.

"It's my first day...I don't know how to get there. Can you show me?" He pleaded.

I open my mouth to reply, but then close it, then open it again. I sigh, giving in to the new student's request. "Fine."

Yuko stopped his puppy dog eyes and grinned happily. It almost reminded me of Sasuke whenever he saw Itachi. Except I'm going to say this: Sasuke is _so_ much more adorable! He can't top the cute little guy's puppy eyes!

Yuko looked like he knew how to get what he wants! This guy...

 _Damn that good looking face of his!_

I lead Yuko to the Food Tech room and head back to my class. But before I could get out of his clutches, he had his arm latched around my arm, pulling it out from its pocket.

"Yes?" I stop and stare at him. I could feel some burning gazes on me as I waited for him to continue. It was no doubt the people who had an eye on this handsome fellow, tracking down his every move.

Like relax, guys, it's just his first day! You can have your share later.

Yuko winked at me, a charming smile adorning his lips. "Thank you, Arisa." His voice was seductive and low. Due to our close proximity, it caused me to blush immensely when I felt his breath on my ear.

How did he even get that close?!

I pull my arm away from him and touch my ear, internally screaming at what he did.

He must've noticed my stoned and blushing expression because he chuckled, letting the melodious laughter dance around the hallway. It even echoed.

"I'll see you soon." He gave me a small wave.

I just stood there, flabbergasted, with my mouth agape.

Once I reached the classroom again, the teacher hadn't come yet. The students were just chatting and enjoying themselves.

My eyes drifted to the 2 empty seats on a table nearby closest to the window. A few of my other friends sat on the 6 seater; Konan, Yahiko and Nagato. Once I came in, they immediately greeted me with a wave and smiles.

"Hey, guys." I slid into the chair I normally sat on.

"Yo! Oh yeah, have you seen Yuko? The new kid?" Yahiko questioned, raising an orange brow. "A lot of people are talking about her right now. They say she's the son of some big shot. Don't know who she is, though. Haven't seen her."

"Uh…I think you mean 'him'. Yuko's a guy." I deadpan.

The trio's eyes widened and Yahiko nearly choked on air. "W-What? Isn't Yuko a girl's name?!"

"Yeah, but…" I pause, trying to think of a plausible reason, "Some guys have girl names so…argh, it doesn't really matter, does it?"

Yahiko shrugged, "Eh, it doesn't. It's just confusing if you haven't seen him before. Anyway, did you see him?"

"Yeah, I saw him. I had to lead him to his classroom. I don't think I want to do any of that again..." I rest my head sideways on the table. "Oh crap...I just remembered...I said I'd show him around school!" I groaned, remembering what had happened not too long ago.

"Arisa, you're blushing." Konan kindly pointed out.

I frown and cup my face with my hands; they were warm. "No, I totally and definitely am not!" I protest.

The beauty shrugged and held a cheeky smile. "Whatever you say, A-ri-sa!"

Oh my God she is so cute! She's probably teasing me right now but she's cute while doing it. Then again, she's cute doing anything. But she's an incredibly sweet girl so I'd get rather jealous, but I'll forgive her.

"Shisui's been gone a long time...3 more years till he comes back..." Nagato spoke up. He was the quiet one of the group and mainly listened, but he was very knowledgeable and kind. He's just a little soft spoken, that's all.

I nod slowly, glancing at the empty seat beside me. Shisui would normally sit there and grin at all of us, being just...Shisui, I guess. He was a ball of goodness and goofiness.

"Yeah..." I say quietly. In regards to Shisui, I actually haven't talked to him in a while. He said he was busy with some things and that he wouldn't be able to talk to me frequently.

"Well, I guess the one that misses him the most is you, Arisa." Nagato looked to me, "After all, you _have_ known him for the longest time out of all of us." I could only see one eye because of his hairstyle. Part of his red hair was parted and held behind his ear.

I nodded. "Yeah. Can't even Skype him frequently anymore." I almost pout. It did feel a little lonely without him, especially at school, and even sometimes at home. But Itachi and Sasuke are there; heck, even Shikamaru was! So it's not too bad.

"I'm sure he wants to talk too. But you know what they say; students who study abroad are likely to be busier than students who don't." Nagato shrugged and tapped his fingers on the table.

Before I could respond with a frown or a groan, the door slid open to reveal our English teacher. His irregularly styled silver hair was so distinctive that I could know whose it was from a mile away!

"Sorry I'm late guys, I got lost on the path of life."


	5. Step 5

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #5

* * *

And then the dreaded bell rang for recess. I groaned outwardly, wanting to get myself out of the situation where I had to show Yuko, the new guy, around the school.

"It's quite alright, Ari." Yahiko 'patted' my back, but it was more like a 'hit' rather than a pat. He can't control his strength! And he was laughing, too! "It's times like these that we come along and cheer you on!"

"You mean laugh at me while he tries to flirt?" I frown, unamused.

"Geez, you're taking this way too seriously, aren't you?" The orange haired 14 year old rubbed the back of his neck.

"...sorry." I sigh. "But it's really uncomfortable, being with him and all. All he does is flirt. I feel that my personal space has been invaded." I pause, "Should I file a restraining order?"

"No, no restraining orders please. He's probably just doing it without knowing the consequences..." Nagato thoughtfully provided what he thought.

Indeed, he did have a good point (and filing a restraining order is probably too much). Yuko did seem like that kind of guy...I think. Honestly, I'm not too sure. I've really only 'met' him once, and we barely conversed enough for me to know if he was doing it on purpose or not.

"So your regular Casanova, right?" Yahiko shrugged.

"Eh...he'd probably turn out as one." I muse.

I gather my books and get ready to leave, but a series of gasps and tiny but shrill squeaks and screams force me to freeze, nearly dropping the books I held.

"Ah, the Casanova's here." Yahiko pointed to the door, behind me.

I smile at my friend, who had a cheeky expression. It wasn't a smile of happiness, it was a smile of 'I'm screwed.'

"Arisa! There you are!" Yuko's voice brought the others students' attention to me. I could feel holes burning into my back from all the stares I was given.

 _Great, now everybody in the school will know who I am...and for the wrong reason...!_

"Hi Yuko." I suppress the urge to bolt then and there. But the part of me that forced me to stay was the 'good' part, to help out a fellow student (even if he is a flirtatious fop) since he is new.

"I missed you, you know..." Yuko pouted, turning his head slightly to the side from embarrassment.

Wait, wait, wait, why was _he_ embarrassed?!

"Um. Uh. O-okay..." I didn't know what to say. Was he flirting again?

"Anyway, now that we're together again, show me around the school!" Yuko grinned and took me by the arm, pulling me towards the door.

"W-woah!" I nearly trip and fall, but somehow I manage to hold onto my books and _not_ trip, just like some sort of circus performer.

"See ya, Arisa!" Yahiko's voice was quite loud from the classroom that it could be heard halfway down the corridor. Yeah, Yuko had dragged me quite far in that short space of time.

"Alright, you can let go now." I pull my arm from his grasp awkwardly.

The boy stared at my hand for a long moment with a blank face, before he sheepishly grinned and rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry about that...I couldn't help myself!" He poked out his tongue in a playful manner.

I was blinking in surprise. What the hell was that? One minute he's completely emotionless, and the next he's upbeat and happy again? What the...?!

I think there's definitely something strange about this guy, and it's not his flirty ways!

* * *

Finally, the school day ended. I had bolted from the classroom and gotten my stuff before everyone else, leaving as quickly as I could.

There was one thing on my mind: DO NOT LET YUKO FIND ME! MUST! RUN! AWAY!

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not in any way _scared_ of the guy or anything. But a day with him and his flirty ways and you're in for a one way trip to 'invasion of personal space land planet 1000'.

As I briskly walked home, I saw a familiar duo walking the same way. I breathe a big sigh of relief that I had been unconsciously holding (that Yuko gives me a tonne of grief, honestly) and catch up to them.

"Itachi! Sasuke!" I call.

Said brothers turned and stopped. They were oh-so-adorable in their uniforms and backpacks. Especially Sasuke. Itachi was even holding his hand, which was the sweetest thing! I'm surprised they still do that, actually. Probably from Sasuke's request or something. Or even Mikoto.

"Good afternoon, Arisa." Itachi greeted with a nod and a small smile.

"Arisa-san! Hello!" Sasuke grinned up at me.

"Hello to both of you!" I turn to Sasuke, "You're as cute as you are every other day, Sasuke!" I laugh when Sasuke breaks free of his brother's hold to 'attack' me, which included hitting my leg with fists.

"Sasuke, stop!" Itachi ordered. He had a shocked expression on his face, followed by an apologetic one.

"It's fine," I laugh and pat the smaller Uchiha's head, "It doesn't hurt. It's just Sasuke's own little expression of love for me!"

The boy made a funny face and pulled away, "Arisa-san, you're weird!" He went back to Itachi and hid behind him, cautiously staring at me.

"Eh, I'm weird now?" I shrug, "Okay then, I'll be the Queen of Weird! Sasuke, you'll be my right hand man!" I grin.

"Hah?!" The boy exclaimed. Holy crap that's a cute reaction! I love playing jokes on this little guy.

Itachi chuckled, "We should keep walking."

"Mhmm!" I take a few big steps, walking in sync with them.

"Shisui called earlier." Itachi stated. He glanced at me from the side.

"Huh. Surprisingly he didn't call me first..." I shrug off the disappointed feeling in my gut.

 _They're family and best friends...of course they'd contact each other first._

As if knowing exactly what I was thinking, Itachi said, "Shisui wanted to talk with you too, but he had some urgent things to say..." the smart kid trailed off, making me raise an eyebrow at this supposed 'urgent thing'.

"You should call him when you get back." Itachi suggested, changing the topic.

I smile and shrug. "Alright. If it's coming from you, then sure."

"Coming from me?" Itachi gave me a funny look.

I wave my hand in front of my face in dismissal. "Nothing, nothing! Just saying that you're trustworthy."

"Okay..." His expression was a little surprised, then he smiled.

We finally reached our houses and bid a short goodbye to each other before going into our respective homes.

"Alright, time to call Shisui..."


	6. Step 6

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #6

* * *

"Hey, Shisui. Long-time no talk."

"Heya. Sorry we weren't able to talk at all for a while..." He rubbed the back of his head and grinned sheepishly. "I had some things I had to do, which involved a lot of school projects..."

"More than here?" I arch a brow.

He nodded with agreement, "More than there. It's quite hectic, actually. Who knew their education system was like this?" He added after a slight pause, "I certainly didn't."

I laughed. He was still the same old Shisui I knew. The Uchiha just grinned at me.

"So how are you? Anything new happen recently?" He asked.

I involuntarily froze a little, remembering the events of today. I contemplate on whether or not to tell him.

Seeing my hesitation, the handsome teen just shrugged, "It's fine if you don't. But if you want to get it off your chest, I'm here."

"Don't fret, Shi-chan; I was just thinking." I decide to tell him anyway. I could vent about Yuko whilst doing it, too. "So there's this new guy at school. He's in the same year level, and... _he's incredibly annoying_."

"Already? How? Don't tell me he does pranks like Naruto!" Shisui chuckled.

Naruto's the kid of an influential political figure. I think his Dad's name was...Minato? Or something along the lines of that. Kushina is Naruto's Mother and she's a volunteer for many things on her time off. She's a generous woman. Her actual job is a secretary somewhere - I think Minato and her work in some high political office.

Anyway, Naruto is their son and he loves to pull pranks. Sasuke and him kind of hate each other, but that's only because of their rivalry towards one another. In actual fact, they're both quite alike. Even Itachi and I agree that they'd make good friends.

"Uh...no, he's definitely not like that." I shake my head. "There's no way that he's like Naruto! He's almost the complete opposite!"

"Wait, so he's not blonde and he doesn't have blue eyes? He's not loud and likes attention?" Shisui listed, "So his favourite colour isn't orange? He doesn't pester you? He-"

"Okay, okay, Shisui stop right there!" I hold up my hand to stop him from talking. He shut his mouth. "And uh, no, he's not the _complete_ opposite, but he's basically that. No, he's not blonde, but he does have blue eyes. They're a deeper shade though. He...I wouldn't say he's loud, but he does like attention. I have no idea what his favourite colour is, and yes, he does pester me."

The Uchiha just blinked rapidly. "Oh...okay...wait, why's he pestering _you_ of all people? I'm surprised people haven't warned him about you..."

I sweat drop, "I'm not _that_ bad, am I?"

"Nah, you're not, but for his own safety I think he should...back off a little." Shisui's voice was a little strained. I could barely pick it up even on Skype, so I might just be hearing things again.

"I agree with you. You know what's he's done? He's made me look like those targeted girls in shoujo manga!" I stress.

"What? Targeted girls in shoujo manga?" He sweat dropped. He thought about it for a brief second, "You mean he made you the person that all the females hate?"

"Kind of." Eh, I'm not even so sure of it myself. Hopefully they don't hate me - they can have Yuko for all I care!

"Wait, how did he manage that?" Shisui looked like he paled, "Don't tell me he's like the main guy character in every shoujo manga! The heartthrob of every main protagonist's story! The love interest!" He spoke those words so dramatically it made me laugh.

Except, he wasn't too far off the mark.

"Uh..." I twirl a strand of stray hair, "Not the love interest part, but the heartthrob part. I don't actually give a damn, but he is pretty good looking." The look of surprise on Shisui's face was hilarious. "A lot of people - mainly the girls, are quite jealous, I think. It's only the first day but he was the one that came up to me and started being the mosquito of my life." I sigh.

"So this guy is a good looking _heartthrob_ and he's chosen you?" Shisui raised his brow. His face twitched funnily.

"Uh...if you put it that way, maybe." I added, "Maybe it's just a phase. He'll probably get out of it tomorrow or something. Think about it, our year level has lots of pretty girls! A good looking guy like him can probably choose one of them."

 _And probably make her a rampaging Godzilla if he keeps flirting._

"I wouldn't say that's the problem..." Shisui trailed off. He mumbled something under his breath that I didn't quite catch. "So you got a picture to show me? I want to see what this guy looks like."

"Dude, it was his first day today. I'm sure there aren't any pictures of him floating around...yet." I shudder at the thought of all the girls secretly taking photos of him.

"Show me this guy's face when there's a picture, okay? I wonder if he'll make me go _doki-doki_ as well." Shisui face was so serious.

I hold in a laugh. "A...Anyway, his name is Yuko."

"Yuko?" Shisui blinked. "Isn't that a girl's name?"

"Yeah, but like it or not, this _she_ is a _he_." I had already gone over this with Yahiko and the others. Guess no one wants to give me a break. Eh, but then again, it _is_ pretty misleading.

"...are you sure this person is a guy? Are you sure it isn't a very boy-ish looking girl that just happens to dress, look, and act like a guy?" Shisui questioned suspiciously.

"I...don't think so?" I stroke my imaginary beard. "He was as flat as a board, just like you."

"Oh, thank you, I don't know if I'm supposed to be offended or not." The Uchiha poked out his tongue and chuckled. He continued, "Maybe this person is annoying you because you aren't the type to be easily swayed by good looking people."

"Uh..." My cheeks twitched and forced me to hold a weird and awkward smile. "Hopefully I'm not...he keeps flirting with me; invading my personal space! How could I even be swayed by such a flirtatious fop?!"

 _Hopefully I'm not swayed easily..._ now that's just making me uneasy.

Shisui froze up, his onyx eyes wide. He blinked a couple of times, taking in what I've said. "Okay..." He was at a loss for words. He regained his composure and cleared his throat, "Flirtatious fop?"

"You don't like my naming sense? If you saw him then you'd know. Well, maybe more of the _flirtatious_ part rather than the _fop_ part..." He didn't take _that_ much care of his clothes...did he?

Shisui was silent for a moment, before he nodded. "Alright, I'll keep that in mind." He added, "Also, for tomorrow, make sure you don't end up...you know...again, okay?" His words were serious this time.

I nod in agreement. "Yes, Shi-chan. I know."

"Atta girl."


	7. Step 7

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #7

* * *

Yahiko hummed, drumming his fingers on the table. He had an amused look on his face that I wanted to brutally wipe off.

Konan had her legs crossed, tapping away on her phone. She was probably texting someone, or updating her blog.

Nagato was actually eating his breakfast. And yes, it was the morning.

My eye twitched involuntarily from annoyance.

"Can you get off me?" I glare at the boy's arms around my shoulders. Yeah, you know who. You know _exactly_ who it was.

"Aw, but I like hugging you!" Yuko pouted. He sounded like he was complaining. Shouldn't _I_ be the one complaining, not him?! Gah...

"I'm telling you nicely to get off." I ground my molars. It's early in the morning and I'm already pissed. And it _wasn't_ because I woke up on the wrong side of bed. It was because of this guy! YUKO!

The handsome teen frowned 'cutely' with his lower lip protruding. He let go of me and I adjusted my shoulders so that the uniform wasn't uncomfortable. I rubbed my neck whilst I was at it.

"Are you upset with me, Arisa?" Somehow, Yuko's voice had toned down a lot more and it was just an innocent question.

I turned to him with a raised brow. He truly looked like he didn't know why he was pissing me off. Wonder why he didn't get the gist yesterday. Ah well, better now than later.

"Yuko, it's honestly too much. Stop touching me every moment you get. _No_ holding hands, _no_ hugging from behind, _nothing_ I don't approve. Got me?" I'm quite a spoil sport sometimes...but if I can't stand it, _I can't stand it_.

"So, what is ok?" Yuko tilted his head.

"I don't know, you tell me." I say sarcastically. I sound so mean, oh my gosh.

"Ah...I'll just ask you before I do it!" Yuko grinned. His happy face was cute and emanated happiness. "Sorry about before, Arisa."

"Good that we're on solid ground." I nod to him. "Oh, and by the way, if you try and flirt with me again, _I have no idea what will happen._ Okay?" I smile. It was empty.

"Okay!" Yuko chirped.

I swear...did this guy even listen to me at all?!

* * *

So far, so good. The level of flirting from the flirtatious fop has been lowered. Invading my personal space has been kept at a minimum and most of his flirting has been halted.

 _Most._

When the guy normally talks - _normally talks, I repeat, normally talks_ \- he actually slips in so many compliments and mild flirty comments and talks as if it's an everyday thing! It's either this guy is a smooth talker from birth or he's trying too hard or he actually doesn't know he's doing it.

I honestly think it's the last one. He looks absolutely sincere doing it - as if he was born to say it. I don't think he even knows he's unconsciously flirting...

Anyway, he's not actually talking to me, but a few girls in the class. They literally dragged him away from my group (Yahiko, Konan, Nagato, absent Shisui and of course me) so that they could converse with him. They even gave a glare, in which I had to hold up my hands in defence.

Can't people understand I have no 'relationship' with this guy whatsoever? I just met him yesterday! Unless you count him being a complete flirtatious fop, then yes.

"What a fun day today has been." Konan mused, blanking out the phone screen. She slipped it back into her pocket. "Day's nearly over and we got by day 2 with Yuko just fine."

"I thought he wouldn't listen to a word you'd say." Nagato truthfully spoke.

"It's amusing watching all these people glare at you. They don't know who they're dealing with." Yahiko nearly sang that part out.

"Orange headed fuzz ball, you stop right there!" I sigh. "I don't want _that_ to be thrown around."

"Okay, sorry, sorry." Yahiko shrugged. "Anyway, who we have next?"

"We have Mr Umino for general studies." Nagato explained.

"What even is that?" I raise a brow.

"Yeah, what is that, Nagato? Is it as cool as those ringed purple eyes you have?" Yuko popped up from behind me and spoke over my shoulder.

I wonder where my elbow would hit if I shoved it back right now...

"Arisa..." Konan smiled at me. Except it wasn't just any normal smile. It had the underlying look of 'if you do that I will kill you'.

I'm not kidding here, Konan can actually be very dangerous. I heard she once nearly drowned a person in paper...a lot of it too. Don't ask me how, but she did. I wouldn't want to get on her bad side...drowning in paper sounds horrible.

Ahem. Anyway. Back to Nagato.

"General studies...I can't believe you don't know what it is yet, Arisa...you've been doing it for the past 10 months..." The red head sweat dropped.

"But we do all kinds of things in it...so there's no real 'topic'. You can't exactly blame me if I don't know what we're doing..." I point out.

"Point taken. Yuko, as Arisa just said, it's basically studies that don't focus on a real point, but rather on things that people should know as general knowledge. It's almost like a self-development class of the sort. Some ethics and morals are also involved." Nagato wonderfully explained what the subject was about.

"Woah! That was a great explanation! You could be a teacher! Thanks!" Yuko grinned.

Nagato smiled.

"What about other subjects?" Yuko asked.

"We all mainly have similar subjects care for our electives. Some subjects are pretty self-explanatory. You've got Food Tech, don't you? The teacher should be Mrs Mikoto. English is Mr Kakashi. If you chose Literature, Mr Jiraiya is the teacher. Miss Kurenai teaches art; Miss Mei, fashion and etiquette; Mr Gai, physical education; Mr Asuma, maths; Mr Orochimaru, science." Nagato nodded, "There are a lot more, but that's the general gist of it."

"That's a lot of teacher's names to remember..." Yuko mumbled.

Oh yes, back to what Nagato said - Mikoto (Itachi and Sasuke's Mum) actually works at the school. She's a retired police officer but now she teaches how to cook food. And good food it is. Fugaku, her husband, is the head of this region's police, so he's busy and grouchy all the time.

"Arisa, can I hold your hand?" Yuko requested suddenly.

"No." I shot him down.

Why does he even want to? Why is he even still trying? Either he's not getting the message or he really is just stupid.

"But why? Yuko really likes Arisa!"

"Referring to yourself in third person does not make it any better. Kudos to you for being so forward, but no thanks." I shake my head.

Yuko looked almost shocked and frozen in stone. I could hear something crashing and burning, but it's probably my imagination, _again._

"What can I do to make you be my friend?" Yuko asked.

The group and I had gone all quiet. We just exchanged glances and blinked, a little unsure of how to answer.

"I'm sure we can be friends...but you've got to stop trying to touch people..." I shake my head.

"But in Europe, we do that to prove friendship...?" Yuko raised a brow.

"Ah, but some people are different and-" I abruptly stop, "Wait, what?! EUROPE?! You came all the way here from Europe?"

"Yes. I moved there when I was young and then I came back." Yuko grinned.

"Okay..." Funny, one of our students - Shisui - goes to Europe at the start of the year and somebody comes to us from Europe at the end!

"So people are more expressive over there than over here?" Yahiko pressed.

"That's right." Yuko agreed.

I glance at my group of friends, who all had a 'no kidding' face. Even _I_ had that on. After all, we have a living embodiment right in front of our very eyes.

"Ey, whatever. Do whatever you want, as long as you don't annoy me, ok? If you do, I'll-" Yahiko cut me off.

"She'll kick you into space!"

"You can do that?!" Yuko exclaimed.

"NO! I-argh! Yahiko!"

"Heheheh!"


	8. Step 8

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #8

* * *

I kicked the punching bag with an angry force, making it swing upwards 90, before it came right back to slam into my face.

"OUCH! I shouldn't have done that..." I hug the punching bag absentmindedly as I rubbed the areas on my face the bag hit. "Talk about having a taste of my own medicine..."

"Arisa? You're here early." The voice was male and belonging to my father. I turn around to find him in the doorway with a surprised expression. "Normally you'd purposely come late because you're tardy."

"Dad..." I want to frown. "I'm not _that_ tardy!" I try to reason, "I had to walk slowly because I didn't want to use so much energy or something!"

"...Arisa, nice try. But walking like a tortoise isn't going to get you anywhere."

"But I'm here, right?"

"Somehow yes. Guess slow and steady really does win the race!" He laughed.

Dad came into the room and folded his arms. I just stare at the man.

So let's clear up a few things. Before, I was angry because of school. No, this time it wasn't Yuko. Surprisingly he's becoming quite tame. Rather, it was the loss we got from the sports day (it was actually today). We had a few rounds of a variety of sports to test our skills - and you know what? The school we went against, they were _completely stuck up_! Most of the students were _so_ conceited that each and every one of us wanted to wipe the huge smirks off their faces! Too bad we're a respectable school with a reputation! Gah! But that's not the end to it! They even allegedly used back handed methods to win. Who even _does_ that?! Although it's an allegation, a few people have come up and admitted that they were on the _receiving_ end of this - and guess what? Nobody owned up to the thing from the other school, even after the students here bravely pointed them out!

THIS FRUSTRATES ME TO NO END!

Okay. Now that that little rant is over, let me introduce you to my Dad. He's the guy over there with the spiky brown hair. He looks rather young with a lot less wrinkles than those his age should have. He's got brown eyes like me, but they're probably a shade darker. He was wearing the official uniform for the dojo. A loose white fitting uniform. He was the instructor and owner of this dojo (it's actually just a training area for martial arts that we own, but Dad likes to call it a dojo for reasons unknown) and has many students under his disposal. That includes me too. Dad mainly teaches taekwondo, but also incorporates a mixture of other martial arts in there for a varied approach.

"Where's Mum?" I question, letting go of the punching bag.

"Ah..." Dad actually thought for a long while. "I saw her not too long ago...where was she...?"

"You called?" A trendy business woman walked in, her heels clicking on the ground with a loud tap.

"Ah, we were just talking about you." Dad grinned at her.

"I heard. What is it that you wanted, Arisa?" Yup, you guessed right. That's my Mum. She's a busy business woman and is quite down to earth, but can seem pretty cold to others if you look at it the wrong way. In fact, that's just her work persona. She's actually really fun and cheerful.

"I just wanted to see you. Is it that much of a problem for your own daughter to request that?" I pout.

Mum grins, showing her pearly white teeth behind the red lipstick. She practically jumped over to me and hugged me, suffocating me with her strong grip (she used to do self-defence classes with Dad...). Eventually she let me go. She was now just staring at me with her hazel coloured eyes, as if studying something. Her long and wavy light brown hair tickled my nose and threatened to make me sneeze.

"Dear, you look like you've had a bad day today." Mum commented. She pet my head a few times but smiled, "Never worry, express your stress in martial arts!"

"Uh...yeah, okay." I manage to say. I'm not sure if she was trying to rhyme or not…

"Alright, I've got to get back to work. I was only going to visit for a short while. See you tonight, dearies!" And she was gone.

"You two are just picture perfect together!" Dad commented happily.

"Shouldn't it be you and Mum, not me and Mum? Isn't that-"

"Shush, you! Of course I know what it means!" He sweat dropped when I didn't laugh, "I was just thinking how similar your features are to hers. The same brown hair..." He paused, staring at me for a long while, "I think that's it."

 _Where did the 'similar features' go?!_ _That's only one thing?!_

"Anyway, class is about to start. Get changed, Arisa."

"...alright, Dad."

* * *

After a nice and relaxing martial arts session, I felt so much better.

Stupid other school and their stupid rivalries! _I'll burn them!_ Maybe not literally, but metaphorically speaking...yeah that's what I meant!

I checked my social media site and scrolled around, lying on my stomach. There was news of people that I've not seen for a while, and their stories that I'm not bothered to look at...yet. What interested me the most was probably all the pictures on it the social media site. They were all pictures of _Yuko,_ taken by some of the school cohort and posted online.

"What the heck...?" My eye twitches at the photos when I zoom in to see them more closely.

In each and every one of those shots, it's just Yuko. The person who took them literally took photos of Yuko every single moment that gave them a glaring chance. And to top it all off, they took _a lot._

 _If Yuko had an ego…it would be huge by now._

"Oh man..." I wanted to face palm at why there were so many pictures taken. The person is probably a fan of him, and it's understandable that they want to take pictures of them...but what good would it be if it makes them look like a stalker?! Oh my baby cheeses...

I sigh loudly and shake my head. "Well, at least they've got good photography skills..."

I'm alerted when something pops up on the screen. It's a coming sky call, and Shisui's on the other side!

"Hey, Shisui!" I greet him after I picked up. His face appeared on the screen as he greeted me back.

"How's things over there?" The Uchiha asked. He had a comfortable smile on his face.

"Everything's fine - oh!" Upon seeing his face, I'm reminded of what he wanted me to do. "That's right! Anyway, Shisui, about what you said before, about wanting to see Yuko's face, people have really started posting pictures!"

"Oh sweet! Let me get a good look at him." There was a weird discord in his voice just then, as if he was incredibly eager, but I ignored it.

"Right. Let me just screenshot it for you." I do the deed and press send. "They kind of treat him like a celebrity. It's...I don't even know, I don't want to get drawn into whatever gossip he brings!"

Shisui's eyes were glued to the screen as he saw the picture. I could see him looking at something else that was off screen, then back at the picture. I swear I could see his onyx eyes widen.

"You okay there, Shi-chan?" I question. He was awfully quiet for a long while.

"...I'm fine. Just..." Shisui raised a brow, "...taken in by the manly charm that he exhibits." He faked a fainting pose.

I blink at his statement then burst out laughing, rolling around on the comforts of my bed. Once I finally stopped, I wiped a stray tear from my eyes that had escaped because I laughed too hard.

"Manly charms? Oh gosh, that was good!" I hold back giggles, "I'm sure your heart went doki-doki for him too, don't you think?"

Shisui laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, "I understand why he's that so called _heartthrob_ now."

"Don't tell me you're falling for him too..." My eyes widen and I dramatically lean back with a hand over my heart. "But he's got so many fangirls!"

"Chill, Arisa! I was only joking." Shisui shrugged. "Anyway...anything else about him I should know?"

"Uh...I'm not sure how it's relevant but the flirtatious fop actually _came back_ from Europe not too long ago." I remembered.

"From here?" Shisui quizzed. He thought for a long while, staring off into space.

Now that I think about it...I'm surprised that he even asked about further details on Yuko. Maybe he really is going doki-doki for him?!

"Shisui...are you sure you're not going to try and take him away from other girls when you come back?" I raise a brow suspiciously. Shisui's in for some serious shit if the girls find out he will be.

"Wait no! No way!" Shisui snapped out of his thoughts with a shocked expression. "I said that was a joke!"

I grin, "You're not fooling me, Shi-chan! I can see it in your eyes, your inner fangirl has spoken!"

Shisui had a look of 'what the hell is she talking about' on his face, but he played along anyway.

"Yeah, my heart goes so doki-doki that it crashes and burns when I see his face." Although his tone was laced with sarcasm, we got a good laugh out of it.

"Anyway, I got to go now. I've got to check on something. See you later, Arisa!"

Shisui's smiling face as he stopped the call was happy, but it seemed quite…well, strange. It was different from his other smiles.

I wonder what that smile meant?


	9. Step 9

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #9

* * *

"We couldn't beat them!" Yuko whined.

I laugh robotically, "Ha. Ha. Ha. Don't ever mention them again, Yuko." After what happened the other day, if I heard anything even remotely related to them, anger would start bubbling inside me and my limbs would tingle and want to punch something.

"Oh...sorry Arisa." Yuko smiled at me, but it was apologetic.

My expression softens and I ran a hand through my medium length hair, "Nah, Yuko, it isn't your fault. Those bast-"

"Hey, hey! Look what I found!" Yahiko waved his arms frantically, holding something in his hands as he rushes across from the end of the hallway to where we were standing. Behind him, Nagato followed suit. But I couldn't see Konan with them.

"Where's Konan?" I question. They normally came as a trio to everything. But that's because they basically grew up together.

"She's got an origami class right now." Nagato replied.

"Isn't she already good enough to be taking classes?" I quirk a brow. Konan was probably the paper goddess. She was really good with paper...in both good ways and bad ways. Good ways, because she knows how to, say, 'handle it' right. Bad ways, when she knows all the tips and tricks to get painful papercuts and other things that can force a person to feel pain. By paper. That's worse than a slow death.

"No, she's teaching the class." Was Nagato boasting? He sounded quite proud.

"Ah...that sounds about right." I laugh and shove my hands inside my pocket but feel a scrap of paper I knew wasn't there before. What _was_ a piece of paper doing in my pocket? Don't tell me Konan's trying to send me a message or something...

"So," Yahiko sounded so excitable and happy, "I just found out that somebody wrote to me!"

Wait, what?

"You heard me! Somebody wrote to me!" Yahiko grinned. I blink out of my little dream-like state, wondering if I said that aloud. Eh, probably did.

"What did they say...?" I ask.

"Is it a confession?!" Yuko asked excitedly.

We all eye the handsome boy with a raised brow.

"I don't know, but I found it in my locker!" Yahiko grinned, opening up the letter.

His eyes scanned the page, but his expression turned from happy to extremely confused.

"What does it say?" I was a little hesitant to ask.

"I...don't know?" Yahiko's eyes scanned the page again. "There's no sender name. Who could this be from?"

"...so it's not a confession letter?" Yuko was surprised.

"No, no...nothing like that." The brightly haired teen shook his head, "And to think I got all excited about it too..." He sighed and handed me the sheet of paper. "Are you able to decipher this? It's like a poem. I'm sure you'll be able to, considering you won every time we play 'detective'."

"Hey now, that has nothing to do with the case at hand..." I read over the contents, feeling Yuko's head hover over my shoulder. It felt weird, so I move to the side.

"Read it out loud." Nagato suggested.

" _Wind blows and howls every soundless flight, be a glorious day for every winters' night. A feast, I say, in spite of wrong, deception all day and all year long. Be wary of sunsets' peak, as shadows loom where you shan't seek, hover above not below your goal, or forever sought after your mole."_ I knit my brows together in confusion at this piece of writing.

Around the little circle it's quiet, and no one has anything to say.

"...now we know that the person who wrote this probably wants to be a rhyming poet or something." I added, "Had a good ring to it too." Shrugging, I handed Yahiko back the note. "Did you get an envelope in that?"

"Actually...I did. It just said my name, but it was printed, so I don't know who sent it." The boy frowned. "I really wonder who sent that...do they want me to join the poetry club?"

I just stare at him, somewhat wanting to hit my head against something.

"Even if we don't know who it belongs to, and we know it's definitely sent _to_ Yahiko, that just means that it's someone who knows Yahiko." I shrug. "Maybe it really _is_ an admirer trying to capture your heart...through poetry."

"Arisa..." The boy sweat dropped but handed the note back to me. "How about this - you try deciphering it and then tell us what you find out."

"Wait what?! Why do _I_ have to do it?!" I exclaimed, "That's unfair!"

"But you're good at this stuff, right? Even if you can't, you live next to like, 10 geniuses...and you can ask Shisui, too." Yahiko deadpanned.

"10? That's an exaggeration..." I laugh. "Plus, we have Nagato. Should be okay."

"I don't like poetry, sorry." Nagato says apologetically.

"And you think _I_ do?!" I retort. I glare at Yahiko for a while, seeing that he had an expectant look on his face. Finally, after a long while, I take the letter and fold it neatly, shoving it in my pocket (the one that didn't have the scrap of paper). "It's a good thing I like you and that you're my friend...otherwise I would have left you hanging." I mutter.

"Thanks, Arisa!" The orange haired brat had a huge cheeky grin on his face.

"Thank me later when I finish this thing." I sigh.

"Uh...who's Shisui?" Yuko questioned suddenly.

I remember that Yahiko did briefly mention him just before.

"He's just another friend of ours. He's studying abroad so he won't be back for a while." I inform.

"Oh...is that so?" Yuko nodded his head, absorbing the info. "I'll be happy to meet him once he comes back from wherever he is!" He grins.

"That's good to know." I nod. I'm suddenly reminded that I needed to check out what that scrap of paper was. Geez, there's a lot of scraps these days...first that letter and now this scrap.

I take it out of my pocket whilst the others are chatting, preferring to look at it than talk (for the moment). I open it up and see if there was anything on it.

" _I'm not._ " I mumble the contents of the scrap, raising a brow in the process. "The hell is this?"

Nagato was listening in on me and glances over. "Something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing's wrong, but..." I show him the little piece of paper that had the writing. It also had a little picture of a gun next to it, and a dinosaur shot dead on the floor.

"...this is just weird!" Yahiko threw his arms up into the air. "I'M NOT A DETECTIVE!"

"Yahiko, calm down." Konan sauntered up from behind me, shushing her good friend. She glanced at me and gave a charming smile.

 _Why do people around me all have good looks?_

"Your class is finished?" Yuko questioned.

The paper goddess just nodded. "Yup. Let's go grab some food. I'm hungry!"

* * *

The longer I stare at the notes that fried my intelligence, the longer I sat in my chair.

"I GIVE UP!" I jump onto my bed and roll onto my back, frowning up at the ceiling. "Stupid little piece of paper...with no offence to Konan...you are one hard piece of literature to decipher!"

"What does this person even mean..." I mutter to myself.

There was a knock on my door. "Dear, Itachi's here to give you something!"

"Itachi?" I question. What's he doing here so late? "Alright."

"Good evening, Arisa." The boy smiled up at me.

"Good evening Arisa!" A more upbeat voice was from Sasuke who had just come from behind Itachi, eating some food Mum had prepared.

"Hey guys, what brings you here?" I grin at them. Just the cuteness from those two make me really happy.

"Shisui sent some stuff from Europe." Itachi handed me a parcel. "It was a big package so he delivered it all in one go."

"From Shisui? Sweet!" I take it and thank him. "Thanks, Itachi."

Itachi just smiles his million dollar smile - it's around the same brightness or even brighter than Yuko's - and proceeds to leave.

"Goodnight."


	10. Step 10

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #10

* * *

"What's this supposed to be, Shisui?" I hold a silver spiky palm sized ball between my fingers. It's harmless unless you chuck it at somebody's face, but the spikes aren't actually sharp. "Is it supposed to be a ball? Do you want me to get revenge on people _that_ badly?"

The handsome Uchiha just laughs and shakes his head, "It's not a ball. Actually, well, it kind of is but it's a container. I saw it over here and thought of you."

"So you think I'm a spiky ball, hm?" I raise a brow.

"You're spiky, but I'd still hug you. A ball...maybe?" Shisui shrugged.

"I'd hug you regardless if you're spiky or not." I examine the ball-like object, "So this is a container?"

"Yup! That's right. It's really hard to tell it is one though. Even _I_ didn't know it was one until the shop lady told me. I guess it's a good disguise, don't you think?" The teen grinned.

"Thanks, Shisui. It's a pretty cool object! Wait so...you _do_ know how to open it, right? Since it's a container and all…" I raise a brow at the camera.

"Duh! Who do you take me for? I'm Shisui Uchiha!" He pointed to himself proudly, in which I sweat dropped.

"Definitely a Shisui Uchiha." I muttered.

"Jokes aside, there's a specific spike on that ball that you can press. See how there's a combination of big and small spikes? It's one of the smaller spikes. I don't know the exact one, so you have to try them all. When you _do_ find it, there will be a sound that's like somebody unlocking the door, and it'll open up slowly." My childhood friend explained.

After many attempted tries, I finally got it open. Inside was a paper crane, along with a few lollies. Also, the inside of the ball is very cushiony. It's kind of like an urchin. Spiky on the outside, edible on the inside…except I hate eating urchins.

"Open up the crane!" He urged.

"The crane?" I take the origami out by the tail, staring at it. It had a few words here and there, but they were cut off. "Open, as in, take it apart?"

"What else do I mean?" He deadpanned.

"Okay then!" Doing as he told, I'm left with an extremely square piece of paper. " _What is your wish if you folded 1000 cranes_?"

The Uchiha just grinned. "That's a question I wanted to ask."

"I'm surprised you didn't just ask me directly? Why aren't you in an arts club or something?" I rub the back of my neck. "Konan would've loved you in the origami club."

"Because the sports clubs need me!"

"Eh. Alright so...my wish? I guess..." I think for an incredibly long time, racking my brain for things. I couldn't think of anything from the top of my head, other than food. "Eat all the different types of gourmet foods in the world...?" It was posed as a question as I wasn't too sure of it myself either.

"Gourmet food? Seriously?" The curly haired male laughed and sweat dropped, but shrugged, "That sounds just like you! I'm surprised it's not related to becoming the best martial artist or something."

"Eh...that's a little bit off but I wouldn't mind if I wished for Fugaku-san to stop glaring at me or Yuko to step bugging me..." I mutter.

Too bad for me, Shisui heard it all. He had a helpless look on his face. "Don't worry too much about it. It's out of your control."

"...speaking of Yuko…that just reminded me of something that Yahiko received at school." I take the paper from the side and show it to Shisui.

He only raises a brow in confusion. "I can't see the words because of bad camera quality."

"Eh. I'll just say it then." I tell him what the note Yahiko received said as well as the one I had in my pocket.

Shisui just listened carefully, nodding his head slowly when I finished. I showed him the little picture of the dead dinosaur and the gun.

"What amazing artistic skills." He commented. I'm not sure if his voice was dripping with sarcasm or not, but I shrugged it off.

"Yahiko wanted me to play detective for him and solve this piece of crap." I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "I have absolutely no idea, so I'm going to ask you. What do you think?"

Shisui looked deep in thought. He was looking away from the camera and out into some corner, probably the room's corner. I just sat there silently, changing sitting positions every once in a while.

"Well…" Shisui started. "I think it's trying to say to be careful, really."

"To be careful? What do I have to be careful of?" I raise my brow in complete and utter confusion.

"I don't know. Plus, the note wasn't sent to you, was it? It was sent to Yahiko." Shisui reminded.

"Ah…that's true, I guess. So then…what does Yahiko have to be careful of?" I question.

"I'm…not sure. I don't even know what's happening over at your side other than that Yuko problem." The curly haired teen sighed, crossing his arms. "I mean, come on. Who actually sends _actual_ letters these days?"

"…Uh…I think a few people do. I _can_ name a few…"

"I meant teenagers. Yahiko received this in school, didn't he?" Shisui asked rhetorically. "Since he received it in school it's likely he got it from a student, or even a teacher. A teacher is a lot less likely to do that, so it basically narrows it down to the students."

"And here I'm wondering why I was the best at that game we played when we were younger…" I mumble. " _You're_ the real detective here…"

Shisui gave a little chuckle, signalling me that he heard what I said. But he didn't reply to it. "Does Yahiko have any admirers?"

"…not that I know of. I'd say that Yuko would have taken away his admirers if he even had any." I apologize to Yahiko mentally.

"Geez…you make the guy sound unpopular or something…" Shisui deadpanned.

"Hey! It's not my fault that he only has eyes for Konan." I roll my eyes and lean back onto the wall.

"Oh yeah, that's true. I'm surprised they're not together yet. It's weird. It's obvious though." Shisui and I sighed in helplessness simultaneously.

"Anyway, I think we've discovered what we can about Yahiko's one. So what about the one I got? I don't actually remember somebody putting it in." I look at the dead dinosaur and raise a brow. "And I wonder why they drew a dinosaur."

"I have absolutely no idea what your one means. Is it trying to say that the gun didn't kill the dinosaur or something?" Shisui leaned on his fist.

"I don't know." I grab a pillow and hug it to my chest. "Why did we even get these notes in the first place? It's weird."

"Maybe someone's playing a joke on you?" Shisui suggested.

"That's a possibility. But who would? That's just weird."

"So 2 notes on the same day, possibly around the same time…" Shisui murmured a few things under his breath, but I wasn't able to catch it. He was looking into space again, his brows furrowed. Then, his onyx eyes widened and he turned back to me with an incredulous expression. "ARISA!"

"What?" I was a little surprised at how loud he was. If I wasn't paying attention to him I'd jump from the loud sound.

"It might not be a coincidence that you and Yahiko got a note each." The curly haired teen pushed his hair back. It had gotten longer. "Maybe they're trying to tell you something?"

"As if I would know what they're trying to tell me…" I grumble.

I felt the bed vibrate. A little surprised, I grab my phone and look at the screen, seeing that Yuko was calling me. Don't even ask me how I got his number. I didn't even 'get' his number. He stole my phone and put it in. I didn't delete it because he whined so much that I had to concede.

"Do you mind if I take the call?" I look at Shisui.

"Go ahead."

I answer, placing the phone to my ear. "Hi, Yuko. What do you want?"

" **You."**

I narrowed my eyes and glared at the ground. "I'm hanging up."

" **NO! DON'T HANG UP!"** Yuko shouted from the other side.

I sigh with exasperation. "Okay, then. What?" My tone was flat.

" **I got something in the mail today. I didn't open it until now."** Yuko shared.

"And you think I care about what you receive in the mail?" I deadpanned. I sounded horrible and mean, but my mood didn't let up.

" **I don't think you do. I'm just calling because I received something of a note like yours and Yahiko's!"** Some rustling could be heard in the background of the call.

"Wait…" My eyes widen. "You got a note?" I glance at the laptop screen and see that Shisui had changed locations so that he was mirroring what I was doing. His expression held surprise.

" **Yeah! It says '** _ **Help me!**_ **' That's the only thing it says. I don't know who sent it."** Yuko sounded confused.

"Wait…what the hell is this?" I shake my head. "Alright, thanks Yuko. Goodnight."

" **Goodnight, swee—"** I hung up before he got to finish his sentence.

"What did his note say?" Shisui asked. "You sound annoyed."

"Way to point out the obvious, Uchiha." I sighed and shake my head, "Sorry. But this…is just really weird. Yuko's note said, ' _Help me_.'"

" _Help me_?" Shisui blinked. "That's…really weird."

"I know right? But I don't know what this means. I don't know what _any_ of these mean!"

"Calm down, Arisa. You'll get there eventually." Shisui's lips curled into a small smile. "Anyway, look at the other stuff I got you! You still haven't looked through it all!"

"You got me other stuff?! Sweet!" I immediately grinned, feeling better. Nothing is better than somebody giving you freebies!

"Geez, you and your freebies."

"Can it, Shi-chan!"


	11. Step 11

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #11

* * *

"…a toy?" I was beyond confused. The other gift Shisui had sent was a toy. It looked like one of those handmade simplified plush dolls. It was pretty cute. "Wait a minute…Shi-chan, _why does the thing look like you_?"

What I'm saying is true, like seriously. It had dark eyes made of black buttons and curly hair (wool) and it even had clothes that were quite similar to Shisui's everyday wear.

When I looked back to the teen on the screen, he had a huge grin on his face and was rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I thought you'd miss me knowing I'm not there. So I made something to replace me until I come back." The grin never left his face.

My expression softened, realising that he actually _put an effort_ into doing something like this. I stare at the toy once more and examine it by turning it around in multiple angles – it was as Shisui said; he really _did_ make it. The sewing was alright and better than what I'd ever be able to do, but you could tell it wasn't a professional who made it.

I just smile and shake my head, placing the thing next to my pillow. "Thanks, Shisui. I appreciate it. Thanks for the thought, man." It was quite nice of him, to be doing something like this even though he was busy. Then again, the guy really cared for his friends. I wouldn't change that for the world, even if he was annoying at times.

"Did you know you can even change Mini Shi's clothes?" He chuckled. "Just look into the box." Well, he gave the toy a nickname. _Mini Shi_ actually sounds like some name from a kungfu movie.

I didn't know what to think – _exactly how much fun did he have while making this thing?_

"…you aren't seriously suggesting that I change the clothes of a toy. _A toy._ " I emphasise.

The Uchiha only shrugged. "Well, if you do I _did_ include a pair of pyjamas for it…" He had a pout on his face as his arms were crossed. He rarely did that unless he really wanted something or if he really wanted someone to listen to him.

After seeing him in this state, I give in. "Fine. Look, I'll even change the thing right in front of you." As I proceeded to do so, when I removed the shirt from the toy, I saw a zipper. "Wait, why is there a zipper there?" I question, showing it to my friend.

"Pretty cool, huh? The storage space is not too big, not too small. It's bigger than the compartment of that spiky ball. It's kind of like a secret storage space." He explained.

"Ooh…" I opened up the zipper and pulled it open so I could see on the inside. There was nothing there, but it was quite spacious for being inside a plush doll. "It's more spacious than I thought."

"Heh. Even if you fill it up with stuff, it'll only expand make it look wide. It wouldn't look weird at all." He gave me a thumbs up and a laugh.

"You're actually pretty smart for once, you know?" I tease, poking my tongue out at him playfully.

"What, am I not supposed to be smart?" He faked hurt.

I roll my eyes and stifle a laugh as I wave my hand in dismissal. "Anyway, thanks for the gifts! I like them! Especially this one that looks like you. I'll make sure to spend _a lot_ more time with it than you." I move the arms of the plush so that it was waving at him. "And right now Mini Shi is saying that he wants to spend more quality time with me in bed."

After I finished my sentence, Shisui just blinks at me for a long while, before he looked really flustered. He covered his face with a hand; mainly his eyes, but I could see he was going red.

"Shi-chan, you're red."

He didn't say anything and stifled a laugh that sounded like something between a cough and a laugh.

"Was it something I said?"

He nodded ardently without looking at me.

I think back to what I said before, playing around with the toy in my hands. I raise a brow and shake my head, a sly smirk on my face, "Shi-chan, stop thinking dirty!" It was a little embarrassing, but I didn't want to let it show. After all, he was already on the brink of laughing his ass off.

"H-hey! You're the one who said it!" He pointed an accusing finger at me. I got a good glimpse of his face and his cheeks were now just a rosy pink. His shoulders were shaking and it looked like he was holding his laughter in.

"Aw, Shi-chan, you're blushing." I coo. I honestly wanted to embarrass him further, because that was the type of friend I was. I'd stop after a point, but only after I was satisfied.

"…alright," He cleared his throat, his laughter seemingly having dissipated. "I'll go now…"

"Okay." I use the plush again and wave its arm. "Goodnight, Shi-chan! I'll talk to you next time!" I grinned.

"Yeah. See you soon." The Uchiha waved at me before the video blacked out.

I close the laptop lid and place it somewhere safe, hitting the bed on my back. I raise the toy above me so that I was staring directly at it, and for the next minute or so, I just stared at it silently.

"Mini Shi, I'm bored." I say aloud. "But I'm also tired."

With another voice, I used a higher pitch and move the plush around so it looked like it was gesturing at me whilst I did the voice. " _No, Arisa, you have to go sleep! Tomorrow's going to be busy, like always!_ "

"…ARGH! That was a horrible imitation of Shisui…" I roll over onto my stomach and place it right in front of me. I glared at those buttons that acted as the eyes, reminded of the movie _Coraline_ and how messed up it was. Like seriously, they also had buttons on their eyes and they tried to sew it into a human's face?! And it was supposed to be a kid's movie…

I shake the horrid thoughts out of my mind and sigh, placing the toy to the side of my bed. Flicking off the light switch lazily, I crawled into bed. When I rolled to the side, I was met with the outline of the toy.

"Urgh, Mini Shi, stop staring at me. It's creepy!" I muttered, "Dammit, Shisui, why'd you have to add button eyes?!"

Somewhere far away, Shisui sneezed.


	12. Step 12

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #12

* * *

"Wait, what?! You got one too?!" I exclaimed loudly, eyes wide. How the hell did this happen? I rub my temples, almost frowning.

One mystery after another. What is this, Sherlock Holmes?! To whoever the hell sent this, do they seriously expect that I can figure it out?! Well, the answer is…NO! What does it even mean? I'm already trying to figure out the first ones and now there's more?!

Konan patted my shoulder, "I don't feel your pain, but here you go."

I resist the urge to snatch the paper, throw it to the ground and stomp on it until it's destroyed. I take the paper from Konan's hands, reading the written material.

"Wait a minute. What?" I turn the paper around on all angles, trying to see if there was anything other than the picture. There were no words.

"I checked it already. It's only a picture of an arrow." Konan adjusted the flower in her hair. "It was folded into a paper plane. I found it on my desk, actually."

I was silent for a moment. The arrow picture almost looked like it could be drawn by a pre-schooler. It was a pretty bad drawing, to be honest. Except the arrow was pretty familiar. Where had I seen this before?

"…Konan, are you sure this is the same kind of stuff we're getting?" I ask sceptically.

"Maybe. I don't know. But…" Konan's gaze casted off to the side. Her finger was tapping her chin as if she was thinking, "If Yahiko got one, you got one, Yuko got one…and I got one…don't you think that Nagato would get one too?"

"Ah! You're right!" I realise. Maybe his one will solve this riddle once and for all!

"Arisa, did you ask Shisui for help?" The origami genius questioned.

"Hm? Ah, yeah, I did, but he only really said something about that poem that Yahiko got. Said it might be someone telling him to be careful." I responded.

Konan hummed in response, "…I guess it could be interpreted that way."

"Hey girls! How are you?" Yuko called for us from down the hallway.

I make a face when I see that some other girls had followed him out of the classroom as he headed towards us. Konan laughed lightly.

"He sure has lots of admirers, doesn't he?" She giggled.

"Hahaha." Cue robotic laughter. "He definitely _does_ , alright. This guy's got them around his finger like…." I stop when I can't think of anything, "Urgh!" I mutter.

As Yuko drew nearer, his fans kind of just let him off one by one, so that when he reached us, he was fan girl free.

"Arisa! Can I hug you?" Yuko grinned, arms out. I could almost see the sparkles around him.

I stare at him for a long, silent moment, then completely ignore him, turning back to Konan. "I'm going to go get a drink."

"I'll come with you!" Yuko chirped, unfazed.

Konan sweat dropped, "I guess we're all going, then."

I turn to the side, making a face, "Tch!"

* * *

"So where exactly are Yahiko and Nagato?" Yuko asked. He opened his bottle of water and took a sip. "I haven't seen them all day."

I was surprised Yuko was only drinking water. I thought he'd be someone who'd drink soft drink. I guess I was wrong.

"They've got training for their clubs." I explained to the handsome boy, "I'm not sure if you're in a club or not, but yeah. Yahiko's in two of the sports clubs; archery and rowing, in case you didn't know. Nagato's in the technology club. They cover all sorts of things related to technology."

"Oh…Nagato and Yahiko are really cool!" Yuko grinned, scratching his cheek sheepishly. "I wonder what club I should be in."

"…you'd fit getting photographed or drawn rather than being in a club. I don't even know what you're good at!" An image of Yuko in the centre of a circle of artists with sketchbooks comes into my head. I shake the thought out of my head, "Maybe the drama club? You know, acting. You're an expressive person, so I think you'll do well."

"The drama club?" The boy then nodded and grinned, showing his perfectly white and straight teeth. "That sounds good!"

"You'd fit a modelling thing better…" I mutter under my breath. Think about it! He's most likely going to get really tall and since he has a nice face, people will love him.

Konan laughed, buying a few extra drinks for our friends.

"Did you hear? They're at the centre of it again."

I blink and turn towards the sound of the voice. It came from a pair of students that had come out from the main building, going towards the side buildings. They were nearby, so it was easy to pick up what they were talking about.

This is what you call eavesdropping.

When Yuko started talking again, I shushed him by putting up my hand in a 'stop' sign. Both he and Konan stared at me weirdly, but I was much more interested in the conversation happening outside of the group rather than the one inside. You can probably tell, I like hearing about gossip. It's pretty interesting, what people say.

"Yeah, I don't get how they can get away with all these things so easily."

"I dunno. Nothing was proven and nothing _has_ been proven. Some tabloids are saying that they're covering stuff up and others are saying that they're clean."

"Ha! Maybe they're paying the papers? They're a pretty rich company, after all."

"I guess…but it's kind of a 180 from their image."

"What?"

"The murder, I mean."

"Didn't I just tell you that it's likely they're paying the papers?"

"…I heard you the first time, but you wouldn't know."

"Hmph!"

I stared at them with a raised eyebrow. What exactly were they talking about? It sounded pretty serious to me.

"They're talking about the company Arrow." Konan explained. I whip around to face her, wondering how the hell she knew.

Konan glanced at me, taking a sip of her drink casually, "Recently a murder was discovered and it was related to Arrow, but in the end it wasn't Arrow's fault. Somebody confessed to the crime. But people think that Arrow was pulling strings behind the scenes."

I was silent for a while, making a weird face. "I'm surprised 15 year olds are gossiping about this stuff." I mutter, pushing my hair back.

"Well…Arrow is a pretty influential company, after all." Yuko stroked his chin, "I'm a little surprised you haven't heard of it."

"Hah? Hey, I never said anything about not knowing it!"

"But it's written all over your face."

"…tch!"

"Anyway, we should get going. Yahiko and Nagato should be on break soon." Konan started to walk off. Yuko followed after her.

I stood there with a thinking face on. There was something tugging at my memory, as if it was trying to tell me something important.

I take out the note that Konan had given me, and stare at the doodle that was supposed to be an arrow.

"Arrow…?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Arisa! You're not coming?" Yuko called to me. He ran over and hooked his arm with mine, pulling me along.

"O-OI! HEY! I told you to ask me before touching!" I complained, nearly tripping.

"Aw, what's the fun in that though?" Yuko pouted and let me go, placing his hands on his hips.

 _You're_ pouting?! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO AGREED TO IT?!

"Guys, stop bickering and let's go." Konan, being the mother hen, sighed and threw her drink into the nearby bin.

"Okay!" Yuko sang. In the end, no matter how much I complained, he still dragged me.

 _What happened to our deal?!_


	13. Step 13

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #13

* * *

I sighed with aggravation, not only because of Yuko's flirting – which has downplayed a lot, but was still evident – but rather because of these stupid pieces of paper that deserve to be thrown into a bin rather than be deciphered by me.

I was honestly at a loss – they made no sense when they were strung together. Like what was a dead dinosaur going to do? Eat people? Pfft, no.

"Hm…" I hummed, looking at each paper individually. It was the afternoon after I had arrived home from school, and the only thing I've been up to is staring at the small pieces of paper and Yahiko's letter of rhymes.

My eyes go back to the paper with an arrow on it. The one who had received it was Konan. Back at school when I first saw the picture, I thought of it as familiar. I wonder why? When we went to get drinks, those two seniors were talking about a murder, and it involved the company Arrow. Could it be?

Thinking it mighty suspicious, I instantly googled it. There, many websites and links popped up relating to the company Arrow, including the recent murder that it was linked to.

 _So it was a company…_ My brows furrow in thought. I clicked on the official home page of Arrow, looking specifically at the logo on the top right corner.

Dark brows jumping in feigned surprise, my head nods slowly as my lips tighten into a thin line.

"Okay...then." I elongate the vowels for each word and glanced at the piece of paper. I pick it up and place it right next to the logo, and there it was; they were exactly the same. Well, not _exactly_ the same, but all the features were there. Just that one looks horribly drawn and the other one official and professional.

"So were they talking about the company Arrow after all?" I raise a brow and lean back on my chair, staring up at the ceiling. Sometimes I felt like talking to myself to settle my thoughts, and sometimes I just let it swirl in my head.

 _If it's about Arrow…_ I suck the insides of my cheeks and eye the computer again, before I started scrolling through and clicking on articles about it.

 _I guess I should find out as much as I can._

* * *

In the end, the only official information that I could find out about Arrow was that it was a company that dealt in business. Like, just plain old business. Nothing special about it. It was also a trading company, an insurance company, and they even owned a casino.

Talk about rich.

"If I had all that money I could totally buy my own island and live there in isolation…" I mutter to myself, then add, "…along with a private jet so then I can get friends over."

Having found out all the official information I can, I looked to see what kind of rumours the company had been embroiled in. The minute I click on the 'news' tab, the amount of articles that popped up were phenomenal. There were literally _millions_.

"Woah…" My jaw drops open at the large number. Shaking my head to regain myself, I click on the first link and wait for it to load.

 _Of course there's going to be a lot. If they're that famous, there's bound to be lots of rumours and articles about them._

When the page exploded with text and pictures, I read through it like I was possessed. I wanted to find out about Arrow. Since the senior's conversation, I couldn't help but think about it.

Now that I was, I almost regret it, though I know that I'm probably lying about that, since the information was just so juicy and interesting (I like gossip, shush you!).

Like the senior's conversation, there was a murder connected to Arrow. It was the murder of an individual that had previously worked under them, but they had quit recently.

 _Does that mean it was because he quit his job?_

I raise a brow at my thoughts but kick them out of my mind, since it was probably highly unlikely. Who does that anyway? An employee steps down from their position and you kill them? If that really did happen then wouldn't that mean that it's just revenge?

 _There wouldn't be any basis for it._

Continuing on, it further states that this person was believed to be a high ranking individual from the company, therefore having access to many official and confidential files.

 _Woah…that just made things a whole lot more complicated._

A representative from Arrow had actually spoken to the media about this topic, but denied any allegations that were thrown at them, including if they were related to the murder. The rep had told the media the information about the man, as well as what the company thought of him, saying that he was a 'highly capable individual' and that they were 'shocked to see him retire'.

Yeah, he was a middle aged man.

Now, here comes the interesting part. Police believe that this guy getting killed was related to Arrow since when they found his body in his apartment, he was holding onto the most recent confidential document that Arrow had, dated a week after his retirement. Thing is, it was found out that the document wasn't produced until the week after, so on the day before he was murdered. Police think that he might have been killed because of information theft.

"So that's their main lead…" I lean my cheek on my fist and think about the controversy.

They've just pointed out that Arrow must have been behind it.

 _Isn't that strange, though?_

They're talking about the whole of the company, rather than individuals. Do they want to charge the whole company with murder or something? What about the real killer? Where's your news on that? What about the murder weapon?

Oh wait, it explains that the murder weapon was a knife that was at the scene in the victim's hand, but there were no fingerprints other than the victim's found, so they were unable to identify the killer. There were literally no traces of anybody having entered or exited the room other than the victim.

Well, I guess that rules out why they haven't spoken about the 'real killer'.

I hum for a long time, staring at the page with a blank mind. I guess it must have been overwhelming to just hear about the circumstances. It's intriguing, but it's a real mystery. Either the writer's a complete flop or this was the only stuff they were able to find out.

I look at the notes that I had compiled – if these notes were really talking about the company Arrow, then why did we receive this stuff? Were they trying to warn us, like Shisui said about Yahiko's letter? If this indeed was talking about Arrow, what were we even supposed to do about it?

We're just powerless 15 year olds that don't even know what to do in high school, let alone what to cook for dinner!


	14. Step 14

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #14

* * *

After brainstorming about the whys of the meaning behind those notes, I come to conclude with, "Let's go ask Shisui!" Because he was a smart cookie. So now, I'm on a video call with him, since I was too lazy to type.

"Hey, Shi-chan." I greet with a smile.

The Uchiha waves at me and beamed, seemingly happy to see my face. "Hey! What've you been up to?"

I gather the notes and show them like cards to the screen. "You know how we were trying to figure out what they mean?"

The wavy haired male hummed in response, "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you've run out of ideas."

"Way to be a party pooper, mate." I puff up my cheeks in feigned annoyance but shrug and nod, "But yeah, that's about right."

"Show me them again." He requested.

I did as he asked. Once done, the male teen stayed silent as he pondered. While he thought, I took Mini Shi from the side of my pillow and played around with it, trying to get his attention.

He was fine with it for a while, but then I could see his shoulders relax with a sigh. "Arisa, what are you doing?" He sweat dropped.

"I'm just making Mini Shi dance." I reply, continuing with what I was doing. "He looks fabulous, doesn't he?" I exaggerate the toy's movements.

"Yes. He does look fabulous." Shisui laughed. He cleared his throat, "Anyway, I thought about it, and…well, I haven't really thought up of anything. I guess I'm in the same boat as you, Arisa." He gave me a smile and rubbed the back of his neck.

"You really don't know anything?" I question, raising an eyebrow. I take the picture of the arrow and show it to him, "Not even anything about this?"

For a brief second, I swear I saw Shisui's brows furrow. But I'm not sure – it was probably just my imagination, or it was a glitch in the system. Or camera quality. Either one.

"Isn't that just a picture of an arrow?" The Uchiha tilted his head slightly.

"Yeah. It's just an arrow, but Konan received this. I did a little digging and I think it might be related to a company called Arrow. It even has a very similar – or even the same – drawing…logo thing." I place the piece of paper down.

"The company Arrow?" Shisui quizzed.

"Yup. Ever heard of it? I didn't hear of it till today, actually. Konan told me about it. Apparently it's really famous, so I think you might have."

He was silent for a moment, but then shook his head, "No, I don't know about it."

I studied his expression the whole time. Like before, his brows had furrowed, but this time, it was more evident. It was like he had thought of something really hard and come to a bad conclusion.

"…are you sure?" His expressions prompted me to ask more. I had a funny feeling that Shisui was hiding something.

Like, the guy's real honest, I tell you. But I just feel like he's trying to cover something up, and I don't like it. So I think he's lying to me.

Looking a tad bit surprised, he nodded, "Yup, I'm sure."

I give him a sceptical look, having caught onto something. A frown tugged at my lips.

"What's that look for? Are you _that_ disappointed?" He laughed, "I don't know _everything_ , you know!"

"…that's not it, Shisui." I pause for a moment, gathering my thoughts, "It's just…" I was a little hesitant to say it, but I had to speak up.

"Hm? What's up?"

"…are you lying to me?"

Shisui's brows jump up and he stares at me with a shocked expression, having not expected that. His expression softened and he asked, "Lying about what?"

"Not knowing about the company Arrow."

"What about it?"

"Well…I don't think that you don't know." Even though those words were confusing to say, it made sense in my head, "I _did_ say that Arrow was a famous company…and you've always been more aware of these things – kind of like Konan, actually. You guys always knew these things before I did. But…just like Konan said, they're always embroiled in controversies and scandals, so it's a fixed area for the police."

Shisui just stayed silent, listening to what I had to say.

"And…last time I recalled, the Uchiha were at the front of the police force…including your parents. Which means, you wouldn't have not heard about _Arrow_ before." I conclude, "Why did you lie about it?"

Even after finishing what I had to say, Shisui was silent. He cast his glance off to the side before looking back at me, giving me a closed eye smile, "Arisa, I've got to go now. I just remembered I have to finish something off. Talk to you next time!" With a quick, happy wave, the Uchiha ended the video call and signed off.

I just sat there, brown eyes wide.

He just confirmed that he knew something without actually confirming that he knew something.

Slowly, I close the laptop and head back to the bed, placing Mini Shi back onto the pillow side. I stare at it for a little while, finding that I felt a little…rejected.

Why did Shisui end the call so quickly? Was it because we were talking about Arrow? Was it because I caught him lying? I know he knows more than what he says. But why was he keeping it a secret? That's all I want to know. Was I right about his parents and the police force knowing a lot about Arrow? That he was in on this too, because it would have been a conversation topic that he could have accidently listened in on?

"Stupid, stupid Shisui…" I mutter, hands clenching.

A fire of determination lights up inside me and I end up glaring at Mini Shi.

If he won't tell me, then I'll go and ask for the information myself!


	15. Step 15

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #15

* * *

The doorbell ringing snapped me out of my thoughts. Blinking wildly a few times, I glance at the clock to see that it was the evening.

 _Who could it be at this hour?_

I hurried to answer the door and to my surprise and my luck, it was the cute Itachi Uchiha. He was holding a bag of something.

"Itachi?" I question, staring at him with confusion, "What are you doing here so late? Did you forget something last time you came?"

The smart kid smiled at me and held up the bag. From that moment, I could smell the delicious food that came from within.

My eyes turned into hearts as I felt myself start to get hungry.

Seeing my funny expression, the Uchiha just laughed, "Arisa, this is for you. Mother made it because she knew that your parents would be home late tonight. She says that you need to eat healthily and grow tall." He handed me the bag of delicious smelling food.

I inhale the scent and melt in a smile, "Thank you so much, Itachi! Tell your Mum that she is an awesome woman, capable of the best food ever! Thanks for delivering it over as well!"

"It's no problem." The youngster replied. "I've got to go now. Good night, Arisa."

"Ah, wait!" I quickly say. Itachi looks at me funny. "Oh, um, I have something I want to ask you." If what I ask him turns out to be true, then that would mean that Shisui was _definitely_ lying. "Have you heard of the company called 'Arrow'?"

Itachi stared directly at me for a long second before nodding. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm doing a project on it for school." I lied through my teeth.

Itachi had a doubtful look on his face but he sighs, "I know about Arrow, and it shouldn't be a problem to find out more about them on the internet."

 _Great work dodging the actual question,_ I deadpan mentally.

"Yeah, true, but…I just want to ask if there is any other information that people know that I haven't found out yet." I word it carefully, hoping that Itachi doesn't pick up that I'm literally probing for information.

He probably picked it up, since his expression was dubious. "…good luck with your project. Just don't write about their rumours and controversies." His tone held warning as he went off back home.

I watch him go and nod slowly, muttering, "Alright then…"

So Itachi knew about them. Though he did expertly give answers that weren't actually answering my questions, I knew that he wasn't telling me much either. Well, now it's probably a fact that Shisui was lying.

 _Urgh...what a pain._

Now I sound like Shikamaru from next door. The kid's always going on about how everything's a drag and a bore, so I think his catchphrases has started to rub off on me.

I set the food down onto the table and start to unpack it. It was just some simple omelette rice, but it looked so good that I literally drooled the moment I saw it.

As I ate, I stared at the wall. It was a nice wall, but I wasn't actually paying any attention to it. I was too busy concerning myself about how the Uchiha cousins knew information about Arrow and weren't telling me any details.

 _Urgh. If both Itachi and Shisui are this tight-lipped about it, then that would mean that the whole of the police force would be unwilling to share any information! WHAT A PAIN!_

Maybe I should ask Dad.

Hm.

Actually, that's not a bad idea!

* * *

Following my agonizingly slow day at school, I headed to the dojo where I knew Dad would be. Mum might actually be there too, but that was only at lunchtimes and sometimes when she could leave work early. I think she might know a little bit about Arrow as well.

"Dad?" I peer my head into the dojo, looking left and right. It was empty.

 _Strange…he should be here today._

"Dad?" I repeat, going in. I look around, even looking at the mirror to see if I had missed any spots. But he really wasn't there.

"What's going on?" I thought aloud. In the end, I shrug and head back home.

"Well that was a waste of time…" I muttered, kicking the pavement. Bad choice, my foot now hurt. Swearing under my breath, I pick up my foot and hop a few steps, trying balance.

 _If I break my foot because of you, pavement, I will never forgive you!_

"Woah, Arisa, what are you doing?"

"Huh?" I look up to meet kind brown eyes. "Oh, Dad. Hi?"

"Good afternoon to you too." Dad laughed and stopped. I used his shoulder as support so that I could check the condition of my shoes and if I had somehow destroyed them whilst kicking the pavement. "Were you just coming back from the dojo?" He questioned.

I nodded, placing my shoes back on. "Yeah. I was actually going to ask you something, but you weren't there so I was going home."

"Ah, sorry, I was at a meeting." Dad grinned sheepishly.

"A meeting?" I quirk a brow and look at his attire, having noticed that it wasn't the usual white uniform of the dojo, but rather a dark blue suit. "…I guess that explains the suit."

"Yes. Did you want to go back to the dojo to talk?"

"Nah, I'll just ask here." I take my hand off his shoulder, "I was going to ask about Arrow."

Dad's eyes widened and he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Why did you want to know about them?"

"A school project. We have to do a research assignment for a famous company. I was given the task of doing 'Arrow'." I lied. Hopefully my Dad doesn't pick up on my lie like Itachi did.

"Ah, is that so?" With a shrug, Dad's smile drops, "Make sure you don't look too deep into it. They do some shady stuff."

"Shady stuff?" I raise a brow.

"You're better off not knowing, Arisa." Dad ruffles my head and messes my hair before grinning and leaving.

"Look Mummy! She has bed hair!" A little kid across the street was walking with his mother, and he was pointing at me. I give him a bored look, seeing the mother hush him up and continue walking, giving me an apologetic expression.

Ignoring my hair for the moment, I stroke my invisible beard.

 _So Arrow does some shady business…? Wait a minute, didn't they deny all that? And how does Dad know this anyway? Actually…I think Shisui and Itachi might know, and that's why they didn't tell me._

I tie my hair into a ponytail and quickly bolt home, with the intention of finding out about this 'shady stuff'.


	16. Step 16

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #16

* * *

Since I knew that I couldn't ask the Uchiha police force to help me out (it was indirectly said to me by Itachi and Shisui), I knew that the only place I could look was on the net. Sure, I really could have googled everything beforehand, but I only looked at what I needed to see at that moment, and it only skimmed the surface.

"Time to dig myself further into the centre of the earth…" I mutter, referencing a movie. I grunt in annoyance when my computer slowly starts up.

Like, have you ever just wanted to get something done but then something just _happens_ to go slowly or go wrong and you get all aggro? Yeah, I'm kind of having that kind of moment right now.

When I'm finally able to get myself onto the internet, I try to find out whatever I can. Doing exactly the opposite of what Shisui, Itachi and my father said, I went straight into the websites that held rumours for this company.

But thing is, is that these websites all had the same information. Like I'd read one thing on one website, but then the exact same thing would pop up on another. They were just worded differently, but they were the same.

"Why the hell do they have all the same information?! Give me something new, damn it!" I frown and cross my legs, sighing deeply. All these sites are giving me a headache – but I have to do it in the case that the others won't tell me.

Now that I think about it, wouldn't it be on a gossip's news site?

My eyebrows jump up in surprise at my own idea. I shrug and get right into it, but then realise that there wasn't anything in Arrow that was worth gossiping about.

You know, gossip magazines and tabloids are all full of information and rumours and whatever the hell they find out of celebrities and well known TV personalities and such. Arrow's a trading company, so it might be harder to find.

 _I wonder if there are any good looking, celebrity status worth men in Arrow,_ I think. Since they're so famous, they're bound to have a beautiful looking person somewhere. _I wonder what the CEO looks like, actually._

Having thought of something good, I search it up on google images, and see the results were up to standard. I nod in satisfaction at the CEO's appearance, he looked quite wealthy. He had medium length blonde hair that was tied lowly, a scar on his right cheek and dark coloured eyes. His gaze was very sharp and it was intimidating to look at, even if it was just a picture.

I did a little research on him – his name was Hanzo, and he was the CEO of Arrow (obviously). Eh, I don't want to delve into details but hey, it's his company. He established it about 10 years ago, and it rose to fame as one of the biggest companies in a very short time period.

I whistled, "That's good."

I go back to the page of images and see a few different people; there was one that caught my eye because he looked creepy as hell. His skin was so pale in comparison to his long black hair, and it looked like he had makeup on? But anyway, he reminded me of a snake! He was in a picture next to the CEO, with a small smile on his face. They were opening up a shopping centre or something.

Now that I think about it, this pale faced guy was in a lot of pictures. Was he an important figure? I wasn't too sure. I quickly googled who he was and learnt that his name was Orochimaru.

 _Like the legends, hm?_ I look at his face yet again. His eyes were quite cold; even if he was smiling, the air that surrounded him was still very icy. He looked to be a calculative person, but who am I to say these things? I haven't even met the guy.

 _Wait, actually…doesn't Orochimaru look kind of like a girl?_ I notice that his features were a complete 180 from Hanzo's manliness. I sweat drop, _if he didn't wear a suit then I would definitely think he was a girl…_

"Anyway!" I slap my cheeks gently and shake my head, "I need to find out if there's any news on them! No procrastination, Arisa!"

* * *

"Urgh…what a big pain in the butt!" I groan, sliding off my chair slowly. I hit the floor and roll away from my desk and to the door, where I somehow open it and crawl downstairs.

I get some food and eat it slowly, feeling half dead from all the research I did. Literally, it was sucking my life out of me. The news that came up with both of them were all business related and just plain boring! THERE WAS NOTHING THAT INDICTED THEM OF ANYTHING?!

"Then how the hell did they get involved in crimes?" I mutter to myself.

"Did you say something, Arisa?" Dad looked over his shoulder as he changed the channel of the TV.

"It's nothing, Dad." I place my stuff into the sink and clean it up.

"Before you go up, can you get me a cup of tea? Chamomile."

"…you're like 5 steps away from the kitchen." I dead pan.

"Hey, I had a tiring day. Do something for your Daddy, ok?" He grinned.

"Fine. Lazy bum…"

"I heard that, young Lady!"

"Good."

"You hurt my feelings!"

"Good."

Dad's fake sobbing was drowned out by the noise from the TV.


	17. Step 17

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #17

* * *

Three knocks sounded on the wooden door that separated me from the office room.

"Come in."

I welcomed myself in and smiled when I saw the blonde political figure and his wife. "Hi Mr Namikaze, Mrs Uzumaki! Nice to see you two again." I nod towards them, closing the door behind me. "Sorry for asking to meet with you two on such short notice." I rub the back of my neck sheepishly.

The two of them smiled, greeting me as I did them.

"It's no problem, Arisa. I've wanted to ask you about something else, actually." Minato gestured his hand towards the seat in front of his desk, "Why don't you sit down?"

"Thanks." I sat down.

Kushina giggled, "You've grown since I last saw you!"

"Hah…? I did?" I point to myself in surprise.

The last time I actually saw them was a few years ago. And by 'saw them', I mean initiating a conversation with them and taking time to talk to them, not just seeing them on the street somewhere.

"Yes. We've been busy, so it's quite hard to find time to visit your place, wouldn't you say?" The red haired beauty smiled at me.

I nod with a wide smile. "Hopefully we can have dinner together again soon! Along with the Uchiha."

"Yes, that sounds wonderful!" Kushina grinned and pumped her fist into the air, "Well, I'll be back. Going to get some snacks. Take your time, Arisa. We need distraction from work." She winked at me once before leaving to another room.

Both Minato and I sweat drop at the woman's joke, but take it in stride.

 _I don't think you can't do work…that you kind of have to do?_ I thought, confused. I shrug off my mental thoughts and turn my attention to Minato.

"I'll let you start first." Minato smiled, leaning back on his comfy chair.

That's what he gets for being an influential political figure.

"I came here to ask you about Arrow." I paused for a second, seeing if he had a reaction like everybody else; but he didn't. He was waiting for me to continue.

 _Strange…_

"I have asked my Dad, Itachi and Shisui; but they all said that I shouldn't look into it. They did say that it would be dangerous, but…" I trail off, having gotten my point across.

Minato stared at me with his blues for a while, then closed his eyes, "They weren't wrong in saying that."

"So you _do_ know something." I muttered.

"Yes, I do." Whoops, he heard me. He continued, "From someone who knows about this company, I have to say…it's better off for you to not know anything. Information like this could easily land you in trouble."

I frown slightly, but understand his words. Though, it _was_ annoying me to no end that I couldn't find anything out. Mr Namikaze was trustworthy, so it was hard to not follow what he had to say.

"How would I get in trouble? It's not like people know who has knowledge about this company." I stare at the immaculate table.

"…that is a little wrong. I'm sure you've done your online research. Have you forgotten that they are a famous, influential company?"

"…no…" it actually slipped my mind but hey, Minato probably knew that already.

"That's fine, then. I'm sorry, Arisa, but I can't say much about this issue." Minato said apologetically.

I sigh, almost sulking. So, I guess my last lead has come to its end. What an unfortunate turn of events. I really hoped that he could tell me.

"…that's fine, I guess. It's disappointing that I can't find out about it." I look up to meet his eyes, "Was there something that you wanted to ask me?" I recall him saying that he did.

The door opened and Kushina came in, holding a tray of drinks and light refreshments. She placed it down in front of both her husband and me, smiling.

"Thanks." We both said in unison.

"You're both very welcome." She was all smiles as she pulled a chair from the side and sat down next to me. Once she was seated, she looked to both of us, seeing as we were silent, "Did I interrupt something?"

"No, no, you didn't." I laughed lightly, shaking my head. She had come in just after we finished one topic.

"We were just getting to my question. We just finished answering hers." Minato smiled kindly.

"Alright, continue as though I'm not here!" Kushina grinned.

Minato turned to me, "I wanted to ask about your father and mother. How are they?"

I was a little surprised that he'd ask me, since he was on good terms with them, had their number and all. Eh, it was probably more convenient to ask me if I was already coming here anyway.

"They've been well. They're both pretty busy, so I don't see them as much as I used to." I shrug.

"That's unfortunate." Minato smiled a little sadly. "How is the dojo?"

"Oh, the dojo's great. I still go there when I feel like it to train. It's fun!" I grin.

"It does sound fun." Minato agreed. "How does your father feel? I heard that his shoulder was injured."

"Eh…?" I blink in surprise. "Dad's shoulder…?"

How come I didn't hear of this? Last time I went to the dojo, he was completely fine!

Minato and Kushina looked at me with confusion. They exchanged glances before the blonde spoke.

"Your father was injured not too long ago. We heard the news last week." Minato explained, "It was a few days before you called us, actually."

I try to think back to that time last week. I _did_ make a call to them so that I could schedule a meeting. It was after I couldn't find anything on the net. It was after I saw pictures of Hanzo and Orochimaru as the CEO and company figure, respectively.

"…I didn't know that Dad's shoulder was injured. Was it a bad injury?" I ask with slight worry.

"It wasn't too bad, but he did sprain his joint. It would have made it hard to pick up anything." Kushina elaborated, "I used to have a sprain like that too, when I was a lot younger. It was a pretty painful experience, I have to say. You'd have to prevent from moving it if you can. It took a while to heal, as well." The beauty sighed, reminiscing the days in which she had her sprained joint.

"That…sounds horrible…" I press my lips together and sit on my hands.

"Which begs my question. How did he get that injury?" Minato's fingers curled around the ear of the cup.

"How?" I half state, half ask. I didn't even know, so I have no idea why he was asking me, of all people. Wouldn't it be better to ask my Mum? Or even my Dad?

"I doubt your father would be careless enough to get hurt within his own dojo. So let me ask you this: did your father leave the dojo at any time?" The politician's gaze was piercing. He sure got to the point quickly.

"Uh…" I think fast, mapping out when I called them and when they found out that Dad got a shoulder injury. "Ah…" I realise that it was the day that Dad had asked me to get him the chamomile tea because he was too lazy to get it himself!

"Ah…he _did_ leave the dojo…I was going to ask him about Arrow but he wasn't there. When I was going back home, I bumped into him. He was all suited up and said that he was returning from a meeting." I recalled.

Kushina turned her gaze from me to her husband, before taking a sip of her tea.

"I see." Minato smiled at me, "We hope your father makes a full recovery."

"I'll send your regards to him."


	18. Step 18

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #18

* * *

"Ah, Itachi!" I wave at the boy as I spotted him walking to his home. No, I wasn't stalking him. I had just come back from school as well, and was walking home when I saw him.

The Uchiha turned to face me, seeing me jog up to him with a relieved expression. "Arisa." He stated, stopping in his step. "Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon." I grin.

Man, I love Itachi. This kid is always so nice. Sometimes I wish he was older than me so that he could be like my older bro. Nah, I wouldn't want to take him away from Sasuke.

He just stood there, staring at me. I realise that I should be the one talking, and laugh nervously, rubbing the back of my neck. "Uh…listen, Itachi. About the other day…last week…I lied to you about the school project."

"I know." Itachi bluntly stated.

 _Way to talk about honesty?!_

I press my lips together and bow my head slightly, "Sorry about that."

I felt a light pressure on my forehead. Immediately, I looked up, blinking. Itachi was staring right at me, an eyebrow slightly raised, his hand on my forehead.

"You don't seem to have a fever…" He mumbled.

"Is it that hard to believe me?" I deadpan, standing up straight. Itachi averts his eyes. "You don't believe me!?"

"Just kidding." The Uchiha smiled, "It's fine."

I relax my shoulders, "How did you know I was lying?"

"…I just know." With another small smile, the boy waves at me before leaving to his home.

 _You '_ just know _'? Just how much does this kid know about me?!_

I return home, and quickly fix something to eat, before going upstairs to call Shisui. He answered in a few rings, his face popping up on the screen. Well, just his hair, really.

"Hah? Wait, is that you, Shisui?" I raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"Yeah." A muffled sound comes from the monitor. Now I could see Shisui, and he looked like he had been sleeping; his hair was all messy and in general he just looked like he had just woken up.

He yawned and rubbed his eye, blinking a few times. He drowsily waved hi at me, which I mimicked.

"Were you just sleeping?" I asked.

"Yeah…" He yawned again.

"Sorry for waking you, Shi-chan." I apologized.

He waved his hand in dismissal, "It's fine…it's fine…what did you call for…?" He pushed his hair back.

I was silent for a moment, wondering if he would even remember what I was saying. He went off screen for a moment, then came back with his hair tied into a messy ponytail.

"Since when did it get that long?!" I laughed.

"I just forgot to cut it, is all…" He grinned. "Should I cut it? Or should I leave it?"

"I don't really care, you look fine either way." I give him a thumbs up.

"Alright, I can't be stuffed cutting it, so…"

"Sure, sure. Just make sure that you take care of it." I subconsciously touch my hair.

"What, so it can be pretty like yours?"

"Yeah, duh!"

"Please, it's going to be prettier."

"We'll see when you actually try, yeah?"

"Sure, why not?"

I shake my head; we were getting too carried away! I was supposed to talk to him about something else, not this! I clear my throat and clap my hands together. "Shisui! There's something I want to say."

"…you only ever use my name when it's something important…" The male lay down on his side and supported his head with his hand, resting like a lazy bum. "Go on."

What the hell is up with that pose?! Maybe Europe has influenced him so much that he's posing like those Gods that they have…

"About last week…I wanted to apologize."

"Last week?" He sounded puzzled.

"Yeah. I wanted to find more about a certain company…" I tried off, knowing he would take the hint.

"…what about it?"

"I think I may have pushed your buttons a little…so for that, I'm sorry."

The look on Shisui's face was priceless. It was gone in the next second, as he sighed.

"I don't know what you're apologizing for." He said light-heartedly.

"Eh…?"

"If there should be an apology, it should have been from me." He sat up. "So, I'm sorry."

"Hah?" I look at him weird.

"What's that face for? Do you want me to screenshot it?" He teased.

"I don't really care if you do, but I still don't get why _you're_ apologizing."

"…hm, don't worry about it." He grinned, "Anyway, I'm going to be going home soon! It's just for a holiday, but yeah…I get to see you!"

"You're coming back?! That's awesome!" I clap my hands with glee. I decided not to pursue the reason he apologized to me. If he doesn't tell me, then there would be a good reason.

"It should be around a month from now." He informed.

"Yes! Sweet! That's good as!" I pump my fist into the air. I was a bit too excited to see this guy in the flesh.

"You sound happy."

"I am!"

"Did you miss me _that_ much?"

"No."

"That hurts my feelings!"

"Oh shush, you. I'm always talking to you so it's like you're always around anyway. But seeing you in the flesh would be a good change from just the computer screen."

"Sure, sure."

There was a knock on my bedroom door. Both Shisui and I turn to it. Dad's the one that had come home, and he opened up the door, soundless.

"Arisa, you're really loud." He muttered.

"Dad?! You're home?!" I exclaimed. Normally he'd be at the dojo around this time. I swear I saw him leave the house? When did he get back?

"Yeah…I felt a little unwell, so I let one of the other teachers take charge." He explained.

"Ah…were you sleeping in the other room? Are you okay now?" I ask with slight concern.

"Yeah…your voice is an alarm."

"I know right? She's loud!" Shisui bellowed out in laughter from the other side.

"Ah, Shisui, my boy! How are you?" Dad grinned when he saw the teen.

"Good, thanks. And yourself?"

"A bit on the rocks, but good."

Dad had moved into the room slightly so that he got a better view of Shisui, but in doing so, I saw a glimpse of bandages on his shoulder. He then quickly left after forming small talk with Shisui.

 _So he really did hurt his shoulder…_

"Shisui, I'll be back." I follow Dad, "Dad, wait!" I call out.

My head was just out of the door, looking to where my Dad was, who was going down the stairs. "Yeah?"

"Uh…I wanted to apologize for lying to you." I stared at the ground. Formal apologies weren't exactly my strong point.

"Lying?" He sounded astonished.

"Yeah. About the school project research assignment thing."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry for lying!" I pause for a second before waving quickly, "Yup, that's it, bye bye now, take care then!"

"What was that?" Shisui was now eating some grapes as he eyed me curiously.

"Nothing really." I brushed it off.

"Alright…whatever you say. By the way, did your Dad get hurt? He had a bandage on his shoulder." He pointed out, lazily still eating his grapes.

"You noticed that too?" I quizzed.

"Yeah. Seems like he was trying to hide it though." He munched on some grapes, literally becoming a chewing machine.

"Shisui, your grapes are making a really loud crunching sound."

"Deal with it."


	19. Step 19

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #19

* * *

"Hah…?" I had to pause for a long 10 seconds to stare at the wavy haired Uchiha on the screen; he had a big bandage stuck to his face, specifically around the cheek and jaw of his left side. "What the hell happened to you?!" I point accusingly at him as I grab the laptop screen, somewhat shaking it.

"I, uh…got into a little accident in Phys Ed." He laughed lightly, not seeming to take it too seriously. "The doctor said that I would be all good in a week or so."

"If you're going to be good in a week, what's with the huge bandage? What exactly happened?" I realise that the thing is the size of his hand, which, is probably quite big.

"Well…we were playing dodgeball…" His lips curled up into a smile, "The class we went against was pretty vicious…even a deflected ball hurts."

"Deflected ball? Just how much of a rebound did it have to have you end up like this?" I sigh exaggeratedly, resting on my palm. "So it's really just a bruise."

"Half of it. I got cut as well."

"HOW THE HELL DO YOU GET CUT IN DODGEBALL?!"

"Don't ask me! I don't know! It just happened!"

"Well, you should've been more careful."

"Hai, hai."

"What are your parents going to say if they saw their pretty little boy with a scratch on his face?" I raised a brow, a smirk curling my lips upwards.

"Why thank you." The teen flicked his hair to the side dramatically, imitating those hair ads.

"I was joking."

"It's okay. I know I'm worth it."

"STOP, SHI-CHAN!"

"Okay, okay. Itachi's the pretty one. And Sasuke."

"Have you guys ever dressed up as girls before, if you guys are so pretty?"

"No, we actually haven't. Oh, I know I am, thank you. I'm fabulous."

"Fugaku would probably blow his head if he found out his sons were crossdressing. But I think your parents would actually start laughing and take pictures." I ignore his comment.

"I kind of agree with you on that…except we don't have any girl clothes. Our relatives don't bring them over either. They're all either too old or they don't have any that fit us." Shisui shrugged. "Would've been fun, wouldn't you say?"

"For you maybe." I have no idea how we got this side tracked. "Anyway. I just wanted to confirm something with you."

"Yeah, go on."

"When you come back from Europe…"

"Oh, about that…" Shisui looked away, then back at me, "I don't think I can come back in that time frame."

"Eh…?" It took a while to process this information. "EH!?"

"Sorry…" He rubbed the back of his neck, "Something came up, so I have to stay here."

"That…sucks…" My back hits the chair and I lean back, staring at the ceiling.

 _All this excitement…gone. For nothing._

"Sorry, Arisa."

"I was really looking forward for your arrival." I frown, sulking. "But I guess it can't be helped."

No words could explain how bummed out I was. I was really happy to learn that he was coming back for a little while, so it was more than a massive disappointment when he wasn't. To top it off, I haven't seen him in a while, so I kind of miss him.

 _Kind of_ is probably an understatement.

This guy's been in my life since I could remember, so it felt natural to have him by my side, as a real person, rather than a face on a screen.

 _Urgh. Now I'm really disappointed._

Why can't I just talk to him on Skype? Nah, I'd rather meet with the real person and talk to them. The interaction is more real – more fluid.

"Hey, you okay?" Shisui waved his hand in front of the screen, peering at me from the side where his hand didn't take up space. "You've been silent for a while."

I clicked my tongue, muttering, "You suck, Shi-chan."

"You mean you think I rock." The teen grinned when he saw my astonished expression. I didn't think he'd hear that!

My phone goes off for a message notification. I immediately check it, seeing that the person who texted me was none other than the flirtatious fop, Yuko.

 _I'm surprised I still have to deal with this guy…thought he isn't too bad._

 _ **Hey Arisa, have you had any progress with those notes? I forgot to ask you at school and I just remembered.**_

Oh, shoot. I've forgotten about those notes for a while. I was too caught up in the Arrow business that I'd forgotten to try to decipher them.

I quickly type a reply back to him: _**Nah, I completely forgot about it.**_

"Is that Konan? Or Yahiko? Or Nagato? Or Yuko?" Shisui listed a few names.

"It was Yuko. He was asking about those notes that we got. Asked if I had any progress with them."

Shisui smiled, but it didn't look happy. He looked like he wanted to smash something to oblivion. It shifted into a mild expression, "I don't think you can decipher them, to be honest."

"Why is that?"

"Well…they seem to jump all over the place."

"I guess that's true."

"Plus, you have no leads, do you?"

I bite back a smartass remark; the one lead that I _did_ have was blown to smithereens because of him, Itachi and my Dad.

"…no, I don't." I finally say.

"I thought so."

"You thought so? What's that supposed to mean? Did you think that I couldn't come up with anything?" I snapped my fingers, "Come on, do _you_ have any leads?"

"…you got me there." Shisui initially had a thoughtful face, as if he thought of something, but he hid it well. He must have been thinking about the notes, and if there was any relation to anything.

"Seems to me we're on the same boat." I grin and do a funny dance.

"Gee…you're still at it." He sweat dropped, chuckling.

I heard a few knocks on the door, but when I turn my head, there was nobody there. "Hah…?"

"Shisui! Are you talking to yourself?" A louder male voice blasted through the speakers, but from Shisui's side. I stare at the screen, blinking a few times. Shisui looked just as surprised, as he looked off video.

"No, I'm talking to a friend."

"Your girlfriend?"

"No!" Shisui shook his head, looking a little flustered, "She's not my girlfriend! She's my childhood friend!"

"Denial is the first step in a relationship…" The other guy sang.

"HEY! I'M STILL SINGLE!" Shisui shouted at the other male.

I heard the door close and the teen giving an awkward sigh. Now that was interesting. We have been mistaken as that before, so it doesn't exactly bother me.

"Is that your…house mate, flat mate, dorm mate, whatever you call it?" I tilt my head and raise my brow.

"Yeah." He sighed, "This is the first time he's been here when I've been Skyping you. Normally he's out partying with everyone else." The Uchiha shrugs.

"I'm surprised you aren't; don't you like parties?" I question.

"Well…I do, but not when they're parties that involve some illegal activity." He sighs, adding, "I have other things to do. Since I'm an exchange student here, I can't be caught doing any of those things, or else our reputation will go down and I'll be expelled and pulled out of the program."

"Ah, you mean the reputation for the school and stuff?"

"Yeah, and for the people of this country as well."

"I guess that makes sense then. You wouldn't want anybody to do that."

"No…we don't."


	20. Step 20

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #20

* * *

"Anyway, as I was saying before, you should stop deciphering those notes."

"You seem pretty adamant about this, Shi-chan." I cocked my head to the left in question.

"Yeah, I am. There really isn't any reason for you to, actually. Have you ever thought that it might actually all just be a practical joke? A prank?" The handsome Uchiha leaned on his knuckles. "Maybe someone's just toying with you."

"That's a…nice way to put it…" A stiff smile froze my lips.

Honestly, he may be right. Shisui did have a mountain of reasons why we should stop…so maybe they were right. And the searches that we've done (well, more like just myself), they've barely come up with anything. So wouldn't it make sense to listen to the guy?

"I hear subtle sarcasm," He paused, "You know how Yuko messaged you before? Why don't you reply back to him?"

"Eh? Ah…wouldn't it be rude since I'm talking to you? And I thought I did." I glance at my phone, seeing the screen was lit up with an alert for a message, then back at my friend. "How do you even see that from over there?"

"I've got good eyes, Ari-kun." He chuckled, "Nah, I don't really mind. What did he say?"

It's been a while since he's called me that. Normally he just calls me Arisa, but…eh, either one is okay.

I raise a brow and shrug, grabbing my phone. I got one message from Yuko.

 _ **How about we talk about it at school? So we can get ideas off from everyone?**_

I read the message to Shisui. "What should I reply back with? He wants to continue trying to figure this out, but you're saying that we should stop."

"Just tell him that you'll tell him at school. And the others, too." The curly haired male leaned back on his chair, bringing a leg up and hugging it to his torso.

"I can't believe I'm getting you to dictate my messages…" I mutter, typing in what he said.

"Hey, what do you mean by that? I let you do mine sometimes, too." Shisui pouted a frown.

 _I don't know what to think of that expression._

"You know that girl that used to message me all the time?" Shisui stroked his imaginary beard as he stared off to the distance.

"You mean the one that really liked you?" I place my phone down and wait for Yuko to respond.

"Yup." Shisui ran a hand through his hair.

The story that Shisui and I were talking about was back from when we had just entered high school – there was a girl that had taken a liking to Shisui – she was in his class and a good kid and liked by the others, but she was really shy around Shisui and never really got to talk to him much. She'd always go red and start stuttering when they had to talk. I was in the same class as them, so I would know.

So this girl, because she couldn't muster up the courage to speak to Shisui, started messaging him, saying that she was sorry she was so shy. Shisui being Shisui, was a nice guy and said that it was fine, that if she felt more comfortable that way, then it wouldn't really matter much and that she should just use that to communicate.

Though…that was the problem. She would only communicate with him via social media, and wouldn't approach him to talk, since she was still as shy as before.

Now, since I was just there to observe, Shisui had to seek help from me, since she was bombarding him with so many messages, and he was getting a little overwhelmed. No, don't get me wrong, Shisui didn't hate her or anything, but he was just at a loss to how he should reply. Back then, I was confused as to what he meant, so when I took a look at what she was sending him, I had to rub my temples, heaving a large sigh. She was basically asking him out, albeit in different ways, each and every day. Now, there wasn't anything wrong with asking somebody out, but…

I shook my head, sighing at the memories. "Yeah, I had to kindly tell her that you had a girlfriend."

"It was hard business." Shisui crossed his arms and nodded with a stern expression. "It was hard to tell her who my girlfriend was."

"It would have been all over if you told her you were dating food." I couldn't keep a straight face when saying that, so in the end, I end up laughing, nearly going off my chair because it was so funny.

"Hey! That was your idea, not mine!" Shisui pointed at me. "You didn't tell her in the end, so it was all good and she stopped liking me." He muttered, "Food really was my scapegoat."

"That's because we didn't tell her the identity of your supposed girlfriend. We just told her that she went to another school and that you want to keep it private, yeah?" I wave my hand in dismissal, "Problem solved! She was a good kid and she didn't want to get between you two." I looked away, remembering something that happened, "Though I did see her crying in the bathroom after that…"

Shisui cringed slightly, "Was she alright?"

"She was fine. She and I actually had a little talk about you until she calmed down. She kind of just spilled her secrets to me." I shrugged.

"Wait a minute…why am I hearing this now?! You didn't tell me back then!"

"Yeah, I didn't." I admitted, "She didn't want me to tell you back then. But now that she's moved to some other place, it should be okay."

"I…see…" He made an 'o' with his mouth. "Keep telling me stuff. It's interesting."

"You think everything I say is interesting." I continue, "She said that she had a bad experience with another kid before you, so that's why she was so nervous. She was fine with everyone else though, and was quite nice. I think you guys would've been friends. Honestly, she was crying from embarrassment, and was worried that you'd tell people about what happened."

"Hah? I wouldn't have done that!"

"I knew you wouldn't, so I told her that. She calmed down and thanked me, said that she was going away and probably won't see me ever again, and that if she did, she'd invite me for high tea."

"What…? High tea? That's expensive!" Shisui complained, "Why do you get to go and not me?"

"Hey, hey, I asked her if you should come too, and that it might be less nerve-wracking for her if I was there, but she said that it would be embarrassing since she was turned down. Plus, it would have been weird if she invited you to high tea since she's never talk to you before. Well, not properly anyway."

"…we did talk properly...once." Shisui said after a silence.

"Eh?" Now this is what I haven't heard before. Shisui looked at his knee, "On her last day, you know how she and I had to go return everyone's library books?" He glanced at me.

I nodded.

"She didn't seem nervous this time. In fact, she was all fine, like how she treated the others. She said that I was a really nice guy as to not hurt her feelings, and that she hoped we could be friends." Shisui reminisced.

"A nice guy as to not hurt her feelings? Wait, what? She sounds like she knew that you didn't write it."

"Yeah. She knew. She told me that after a lot of thinking, she concluded that you had written it, simply because I looked too hesitant to do that sort of thing, and that we were good friends."

"You _looked_ too hesitant? Well…she's not wrong…" I mutter, trailing my eyes to the side. Back then, Shisui wasn't sure of how to turn down somebody. Though, he'd been in the situation more than the fingers could count, he still didn't know.

"No, she wasn't. She was quite on the mark, actually. I told her that I was sorry, but she said that it was okay, and that she knew that I—" Shisui stopped himself short before he said anything else. He pressed his lips together into a tight lipped line, like he was preventing a secret from spilling.

I tilted my head to the side and gave him a quizzed look. Why did he stop mid-sentence?

The male cleared his throat, continuing, "She knew that it was you and that I didn't have an interest in her that way."

"…I see…" I glanced at my phone when it lighted up.

"There weren't any bad feelings, so we were all good. Though, the high tea thing is a different matter entirely…" Shisui mumbled.

 _ **Alright, then. I'll see you at school, Arisa-chan! 3**_

I sweat drop at Yuko's message. He really was a flirtatious fop.

"Anyway Ari-kun, tell your dad that I hope for a good shoulder recovery. I need to go now!" Shisui waved bye gave me the victory sign, before signing off.

"See you."

My mind trails back to what Shisui said before – that this whole deciphering thing might be a practical joke. He wasn't wrong in the slightest, and there was a high chance it was. If I think about it, it really begs the question as to why those notes popped up in the first place.

 _Urgh...I'll just tell the others tomorrow. There won't be any problem if we stop this, anyway. We're only teenagers doing this out of boredom._


	21. Step 21

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #21

* * *

"So Shisui said that?" Konan sipped from her juice box, staring at me with raised brows. "It's likely a practical joke, then." She concluded.

"But we were having so much fun deciphering…" Yuko pouted, playing with his fingers.

"You mean, when I was forced to decipher and you guys stood by and watched? Yeah, that sounds about right." I deadpan at the fop.

Yuko grinned and he swung an arm around my shoulders, bringing me closer to him as he ruffled my hair.

I elbowed him in the ribs, a completely vacant look on my face as I did the deed. Yuko sputtered as he lurched to the side, holding his side with a smile, though his expression screamed that he was in pain.

"So, we'll just stop this, yeah?" I smiled at my friends, ignoring Yuko who had staggered back to the group circle, a forced smile on his face.

Konan, Yahiko and Nagato sweat dropped at my actions. They were used to this. This was what happened daily – though my hitting him reduced for 2 reasons. One, being that I didn't want to bother and two, being that I'd accidently hit him too many times that bruises would form. It was purely accidental, but I didn't want to hurt him too much. Though it was his fault for coming at me with his touchy-feely actions.

Anyway!

"Yeah, I guess." Yahiko shrugged, "You gonna throw out those papers?"

"I don't know yet. I might keep them." I grin.

"Hah? Why would you do that? Didn't you say it was a practical joke?" The ginger-haired teen raised his brow at me.

"Well…I said it _might_ be."

"Oh."

"Yeah, it's kind of annoying at this stage. I'll put them somewhere safe, just in case we want to solve it when we have some random lead." I poke out my tongue and laugh.

"And where are you going to put that, huh?" The ginger leaned on his palm.

"Well. I'll put them in mini Shi-chan and make it look fat." I nodded in satisfaction as my mind expanded the look of the toy, making it looked like it was going to burst from being stuffed with too much stuff.

"…what if you accidently break the toy? Didn't Shisui make it for you?" Nagato asked softly.

"Uh…" I rub the back of my neck, "Maybe that spiky ball, then? I can fold things into small little pieces of small…stuff…"

"Do whatever, really. Anyway, enough about that, what are we going to do for the term break? You guys going anywhere?" Yahiko asked, eyes surveying the group.

"Ah, about that…" I spoke up first, laughing a little awkwardly, "I found out last night that I'm going to Hawaii."

"...you're going to Hawaii?!" Yahiko exclaimed. The others looked just as shocked. The surprise written on their faces were gone soon, and what replaced it was sheer happiness.

"That's awesome! Hawaii's a good place, so I think you'll really like it!" Yuko grinned and patted my shoulder.

I look over to him, "You've been to Hawaii before?"

"Yup! It was actually just a couple of years ago."

"Sounds fun." I smile.

"How long are you going for?" Konan asked.

"For about 2 weeks. We can still meet up afterwards."

"Since your house is gonna be free, can we crash it?" Yahiko grinned cheekily.

"I'll crash your face instead." I snap at him. He looked really surprised, before the ginger started to fake cry, saying that I was a meanie.

No one actually cared enough to fake comfort him or insult him further.

"So now that you know I'll be away for a while, what about you guys?" I inquire.

"I'm actually going back to Europe for a short trip. I need to visit my parents." Yuko grinned, "I'm going longer though, so maybe about a month?"

"That's…long…" Yahiko said slowly. "But you're visiting relatives you haven't seen in a while, so it should be all good. You must've missed them, huh?"

"Yeah. They've been supportive." Yuko smiled handsomely.

 _Urgh. I still can't get used to those sparkles every time he smiles. It's like his teeth breathe sparkles or something._

I would have laughed at my own thoughts if it weren't for Konan, who started speaking.

"You guys have such promising holidays. I'm stuck here teaching classes of origami." She sighed and placed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Though I am having a meet and greet with the followers of my blog."

"That's good! Take me along, won't you?" Yahiko beamed.

Konan smiled at him and nodded.

Nagato sweat dropped from where he was, scratching his head. "Well…I'll be staying here. I don't have anything particular to do. But I have signed up for a boot camp?"

"A…boot camp?" All of us had to think twice about what the red head just said. Then, we stared at him with wide eyes, mouths opened in astonishment.

"Yeah." Nagato tilted his head slightly in confusion. He probably didn't know why everyone was acting like this.

Let's just say – he wasn't the most athletic person. He was average, but not the type that would undergo severe or harsh training like in boot camps. I'm not too sure if we're talking about the same boot camp here, but every time I hear the word, I think of the military boot camps where participants are literally screamed at day in day out.

"I wanted to do this for a long time. But the spots are always full because it's the only course out there that does this." Nagato explained, "I've been on the waiting list for a long time."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, hold up a moment, Nagato!" Yahiko waved his hands frantically, "You wanted to do this for a long time?! Are you insane?! It's going to tear away at your mentality!" He exaggerated. "Your body and brain will both be fried afterwards!"

"Huh? No, not really. My brain might, but my body will be fine? I don't think computer programming involves much physical activity of any sort." Nagato blinked a few times, trying to clear up the misunderstanding. "It's not like those exercise boot camps! I can't do those."

Yahiko let out a big sigh of relief and wiped imaginary sweat from his brow. "Thank God…" He regained composure, "So anyway, I've signed up for shooting classes. So with guns, arrows and the like. It's pretty cool, but we're only going to use the safe ones. No real ones." He shrugged.

"That sounds dangerous." Konan murmured.

"Not really. If they're the safe ones, it should be fine even for beginners. The only problem is muscle stamina." Yuko placed a hand on his hip.

"I'm athletic, so I think it'll be okay!" The ginger chuckled.

"Hm…?" I swear Yuko's eyes glinted, "How about we have a match when I come back?" Yuko sounded almost smug, but I wouldn't exactly know since I was staring at Yahiko's expressions as Yuko talked.

 _Well I'll be damned if Yuko won._


	22. Step 22

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #22

* * *

"Yup, I'll be heading off to Hawaii. Parents decided not too long ago, said that they wanted to get out of the country for a while." I grinned as Shisui nodded his head slowly, a smile tugging at his lips.

"That sounds pretty good. I heard from Yahiko that he and Yuko were planning a shooting match after everyone comes back from their holidays." The Uchiha chuckled, "Did they make a new rivalry or something?"

"Yeah, I think so. Yahiko was going to take classes over the holidays, and Yuko wanted to challenge him. He knows a bit about shooting and stuff, it seems." I shrug, "Maybe he was like a secret agent or something in his past life." I chuckle.

Shisui's brows just raise as a light laugh ripples through his body. "Maybe, maybe! You never know."

"Mhmm." I hummed, closing my eyes. I lean back on my chair, resting slightly.

"You look tired." Shisui commented. I opened one eye.

"A little bit. It's summer, so doing anything is stifling." I wrinkle my nose. "On a different note, hasn't that bruise and cut on your cheek healed yet?" I look to the bandage that was still on his cheek.

"It hasn't even been that long, Ari-kun. It doesn't heal overnight, you know."

"…sucks that it doesn't, right?" I sigh and hug my legs, "And you know what sucks more? You not coming back anytime soon."

Shisui paused for a moment, before a long sigh escaped through his lips, "That couldn't be helped, Arisa. I promise I'll come back soon, I just don't know when."

"I wonder how Itachi feels about this…" I mutter.

"He said it was fine."

"If you say so."

"Let's move on to a different topic. Talking about not going back is making me depressed. Since you're going to Hawaii, bring me back something!" The Uchiha grinned.

"Hah? Like what? A surfboard?" The only thing I could think of from the top of my head.

"Nah, I've already got one. Maybe…an accessory or something?" The teen was deep in thought. It looked like he didn't even know what he wanted, just that he wanted me to bring something back for him.

"Alright. I'll get you something back, but I don't know if it'll be an accessory or not." I mentally take a note of getting a souvenir for Shisui.

"Yosh! Alright, thanks Ari-kun!" He cheered.

I sweat dropped at his actions, "It's fine, Shi-chan."

"Talking to your girlfriend again?" A familiar male voice sounded from the computer, from Shisui's side.

The Uchiha's mouth opened in surprise before he snapped back, "My childhood friend! Not my girlfriend! Get it right!"

"Yes, yes. I mean…girl _friend_ , right?" I heard a snicker from the other side.

"Urgh…that's a trick question and you know it." The Uchiha sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair, seemingly annoyed. He turned back to me, "Sorry about that. He's just doing that for fun. He knows, though."

"It's the same guy as before, wasn't it?" I thought back to the time when it happened once.

"Yeah." Shisui laughed lightly, before he gave me a warm smile, "Anyway, I've got to go. Have fun on your trip!"

"Yup. See you, Shi-chan. Don't get cut by a dodgeball again!" I tease, waving bye.

The video screen flickered off. I closed the lid and leant back on the chair, staring up at the ceiling.

It felt like I was forgetting something.

 _Oh. That's right. The notes._

I rummage through my stuff and finally find them all, also finding that spiky ball that Shisui had gifted me earlier. I fold the paper into small pieces before opening the ball and shoving everything inside. It fit, so it was all good. My fingers hurt from pressing every blunt spike, though.

"Now, I'll just leave you here until next time." I place the ball at the back of my desk, next to the lamp on the left side.

My phone vibrated for an incoming call. Immediately sliding it into my hand, I see that the caller was Shisui? I just got off the video call with him, so what does he want now?

In any case, I answer. "What's up, Shi-chan?"

"Yo, sorry to annoy you again, but I won't be able to chat from now on until after your trip ends. Just in case you try to contact me." The Uchiha informed.

"Ah, I see. That's alright. Thanks for telling me." I pause for a short while, "Alright, see you then."

"See you."

He had hung up with a beep.

There were a few knocks on my door, before it opened. It was Mum.

"Mum? You're home early?" I question with a surprised expression.

"Yes, only for today, though, and a day before our trip. Were you just talking to Shisui?" She enquired with a small smile.

"Ah, yeah, I was." I blink once. "Not anymore, though."

"I see. You should start packing. You shouldn't leave everything to the last minute, honey. If you need any help sorting things out, I'll be in my room." The business woman smiled once again and shut the door, leaving me by myself again.

"Okay…" I nod to myself slowly.

 _I guess it's time to pack._

During my time packing, somebody else knocks on the door and comes in without my consent. It's actually just my Dad, and he seemed to just be checking up on me.

"Evening, Arisa." He greeted.

"Hi, Dad. How was work?" I ask, folding some clothing and placing it into the suitcase. I didn't need to put much, I'd probably buy some clothes there.

Probably not _some._ Probably _a lot._

"It was good. My students are getting better." He grinned.

"That's good to hear." I smile, but then I'm reminded on something I forgot to do, yet again. I turn to the middle aged man, "Dad, Shisui hopes that your shoulder has a good recovery, same with Minato and Kushina."

Dad's eyes widen a fraction in shock, before his brows knitted together, then he started laughing, "A shoulder injury? What are you talking about?"

I watch as he just laughed, trying to brush it off. His laughter died down when he saw my unconvinced expression.

"Dad, are you, uh…okay?" I say slowly.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"I wouldn't exactly say that you're fine if you've got a shoulder injury. I saw it the other day when you came to tell me to shut up." I remembered. "It was all bandaged up, and Shisui saw it too."

"Ah…" Dad pressed his lips into a thin line. He heaved a defeated sigh, "I guess there isn't any hiding it, then. I did get injured, but it's not life threatening or anything—"

"It won't be life threatening if you actually rest. You're still working at the dojo, aren't you?" I cut him off. It was quite worrying for me since he was my Dad, and I wanted him to be in good health, rather than bad. Plus, he was a martial arts instructor, so that means that he'd need to use his limbs and that could mean bad business if he got injured any further.

"I am but—"

"Dad, I know you want to continue teaching, but why can't you just supervise, instead?" I suggest. "It'll be better for your shoulder since you won't move it as much, and it'll be good experience for the other teachers. You're still doing your job, just less as the main teacher, and more of a support teacher. Or a teacher support or whatever."

Dad grumbled a few incoherent words under his breath, "You sound like a doctor."

"And this is why you listen to a doctor." I roll my eyes at him and continue packing my suitcase. "Go help Mum pack or something."

"Hai, hai, doctor." Dad sighed through his nose before smiling helplessly, "I can't win against you."

"Just not this fight, Dad."

"Yes, yes."


	23. Step 23

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #23

* * *

The trip to Hawaii was awesome. That's all I could really say about the whole thing. It was sunny, yes, but since we stayed at a resort, it was all good.

To sum it up, I did a lot of shopping, went out a lot, ate lots of good food, and the things that people do when they're on holidays.

When I came back home, for the rest of the holidays, I went out with the gang (with and without Yuko, since half the time he was still in Europe), had tea with Kushina and Minato, saw Naruto, chilled with Itachi and Sasuke, and attended that shooting match between Yuko and Yahiko, when the former came back.

Strangely, Yuko had won against Yahiko, which blew our minds. We didn't know that the flirtatious fop was good at all shooting sports - so like archery, gun shooting, darts and the like. He won them all. Yahiko was astounded, probably because he thought he could win. But he didn't seem too bummed out by it, but rather admired the fop for his skills.

"You're really good! Have you been doing this for a long time?" The ginger asked.

"I guess. I've been doing it since I was small – my father wanted me to do this since I was so interested in hitting things." Yuko laughed at a memory that he kept silent about. "Nonetheless, it was a good match, don't you think?" He reached his hand out as a gesture for a hand shake.

Yahiko took it and grinned, shaking it like no tomorrow, "You know, you should really teach me! That would be awesome!"

"But don't you consider me your rival?" The handsome teen questioned.

"Yeah, but what's so bad about a rival teaching a rival?"

"Well, the rival could get better than the one who taught the rival…"

"Nah, I'm still a beginner so it should be all good!"

"That was really confusing." Konan murmured from beside me.

"I guess…" I reply with a small laugh.

So with that being settled, the holidays continued, and so did the next 2 years of our life in high school.

We were now about to start year 12, having passed the couple of years with quite a few bumps, though there were a lot of highlights.

It was pretty obvious, but Konan and Yahiko started dating. It took them how long? I've known them since I was in primary school…took them long enough. I've turned into a grandma in the time it took.

Yuko was still a touchy flirtatious fop, but for some reason, I've lost my energy in dealing with him, so I just let him do whatever until I get annoyed and hit him. Which happens quite a number of times in a week.

Speaking of that guy, he started to be worshipped by the younger students every time he passed them (especially the females). It kind of freaked me out, but he takes it in stride, and even signs autographs for people.

I honestly don't know how he deals with it. They literally stalk him.

Anyway, you know what pisses me off the most? In the last 2 years, Shisui didn't even come back! Just like the first time, he said that it couldn't be helped, and that he couldn't come back for a while. I thought it'd last for only one holiday season, but it lasted the whole time he was in Europe?! Did he not want to come back or something?!

Though I was upset with what happened, I had to let it go, since staying on it wouldn't really do any good.

Today was the day that Shisui was supposed to come back. I was waiting outside on the balcony, chilling on the hammock that was installed in the past year. It was the weekend morning, and summer. The school term hadn't started yet, so things haven't gotten too busy.

I heard a car coming from down the road, and immediately sat up on the hammock, looking over the balcony ledge. The car stopped in front of Shisui's house, and in a few moments, the car engine stopped and a few people came out. They helped take out a suitcase from the trunk.

I heard laughter and some talking, but I couldn't make out anything. I was too busy trying to recognise faces.

"ARI-KUN!"

I blinked a few times at somebody shouting my name. It was from right in front of me, from one of the people that had come out of the car. They were waving at me, a huge grin on their face.

It took me a while to process, but when I did, I rushed back inside the house and jumped down the stairs, coming out of the front door in a hurry. I sprinted to where he was, feeling my vision go blurry as my eyes watered.

"SHI-CHAN!" I cried out, jumping to hug the Uchiha.

Shisui caught me and spun around, hugging me tightly as he laughed, "Nice to see you too, Arisa."

"You've finally come back, you little shit!" My arms were wrapped tightly around his neck as I felt the tears fall. I was just so overwhelmed with happiness, that I just couldn't stop them. "Welcome back!"

Shisui could only grin ear to ear, "I'm home!"

* * *

A/N: the schooling system for this story is based on the Australian schooling system, where the year starts around the end of Jan/start of Feb. There are 4 terms, each around 10 to 12 weeks long, with 2 weeks holiday between each term, until around Nov/Dec, when there is a summer holiday lasting until the next year.


	24. Step 24

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #24

* * *

"Did you miss me _that_ much?" Shisui teased, poking my cheek. He was laughing, a big grin on his matured face.

"What are you talking about?" I glance away, trying to hide the blush that hit my cheeks. He was right, I did miss him a lot. I was caught red handed, too.

"I haven't seen you cry in a _very_ long time, you know. So that must mean something." The Uchiha poked my other cheek, trying to get my attention. He ended up attacking both my cheeks and stretching both of them gently.

"I did no such thing!" I stubbornly cross my arms and turn to the side. I didn't want to admit it, because I know he'll have a good laugh just teasing me.

Remembering back when I jumped onto him and started crying, I cringed so bad. I didn't want to relive that memory, mainly because it was so embarrassing.

"O-oi…are you okay?" Shisui stared at me funny, unsure of what I was doing.

I had curled up into a ball on the ground, trying to get that stupid memory out of my head so I could rid myself from all embarrassment. Unfortunately, it did no good but worsen it. The look on his parents' faces was all happy and jolly, which made me fake sob at how weird my reunion with Shisui was.

Sometimes I just want to curl up into a ball and never uncurl myself ever again.

But that wouldn't happen.

"Hey, hey, answer me, Ari-kun!" Shisui began to tickle my sides, but to no avail. I wasn't ticklish. "Oh boo..." The male sighed and sat back on the sofa.

We were actually inside his house, just chilling in the lounge room.

I uncurled myself from my hibernating ball and sat cross legged on the ground, finding it quite comfortable. All traces of what happened before was behind me.

 _This rug is really comfy._

"So you finally uncurled yourself, hm?" The Uchiha's dark eyes met mine as he grinned. "You look nearly the same as last time I saw you in real life. You haven't changed much."

I tilt my head slightly, staring at him intently. I wanted to say something along the lines of 'you too, Shi-chan!' but I knew that wasn't entirely true. Looking at him now, I could see that his features were more defined. His eyes weren't as big as they were before (though, eyes stay the same size, just that the facial structure makes it look smaller), but still held the same kindness and sincerity in them as they did before; his jawline was sharp and defined; his hair had changed into a slight side parting, still the wavy-curly it was before; he was a lot muscular and leaner than he was previously, and was nearly a head taller than me.

All in all, I thought he looked pretty good.

"Uh…" Shisui cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck. "Did I change a lot?"

I stroke my invisible beard, "Well, you've grown, so you've somewhat changed a lot, though still recognisable. I think you look really good."

The Uchiha grinned and joined me on the ground.

I grinned, "The ground's comfy, yeah?"

"You only sit on the ground because you like the rug." The Uchiha rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Well, that _is_ true…" I feel the rug underneath my fingers.

There was a silence that captured us as we bathed in each other's presence. It had been so long since I actually saw him. It was completely different to seeing him on the screen. It was better. Plus, I could see him in HD rather than LD.

 _Hm…I wonder who would have more followers. Shisui or Yuko?_

"Do you remember what I told you before I went to Europe?" Shisui spoke up.

I looked up from the rug, seeing that his eyes were serious. "Before you went to Europe?" I thought back, trying to think of that distant memory that had locked itself at the back of my mind.

"Do you remember?" He asked softly.

I tried to remember, and then the lightbulb went off. I caught my right fist in my left hand, like a hammer in motion. "Ah! Yeah! You did! You said that you wanted to tell me something when you came back, and you even asked if I was going to listen."

Shisui only smiled. "I was going to tell you that I—"

The sound of the doorbell went off, alarming everyone inside the house and stopping Shisui midsentence. We looked to the door as Shisui's mother went to check who it was.

When she opened it, we were met with the sight of Itachi and Sasuke.

"Ah, Itachi, Sasuke! Come in!" Shisui's Mum smiled and let them in.

The Uchiha brothers looked over to us. Itachi smiled and Sasuke's brows rose when he looked at us.

"I'll tell you later." Shisui mumbled to me.

Before I could even say 'okay', Itachi and Sasuke came to us and we all greeted each other. Itachi and Shisui went to talk about something privately, leaving Sasuke and I in the lounge.

"So, Sasuke. How've you been?" I smile at the boy.

 _Wait, how old is this guy anyway?_

While I was doing the math in my head, I realise that he had already responded.

"Everything's fine." The youngest Uchiha said. I stare at him for a long moment, the calculations still going through my head.

 _Okay, so Itachi should be in year 10…wait no, he skipped a few grades so he's in year 12 like Shisui and I both are…which means he's 16, and since the kid's about 5 to 6 years younger…_

"What? If you're going to ask something, say it." The boy sighed.

"Actually, how old are you again?" I laugh nervously; I always forgot how old he was.

"…11." Sasuke looked at me funny, as if I was some sort of alien.

"Ah, yeah, I knew that!"

 _Yeah, no, I didn't._

"No, you didn't."

"What?!"

"It's written all over your face."

 _This kid is nothing like Itachi at all…!_


	25. Step 25

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #25

* * *

Once Shisui and Itachi came back from their little private talk, we all conversed about things that happened when we weren't in each other's presence. Of course, Shisui and I did most of the talking, and Itachi would listen and chime in sometimes. Sasuke just kind of sat there on the side and listened. He made a few faces if he thought some things we did were weird; which, was like everything.

"Well I do have lots of things to do now that I've come back," Shisui started, stroking his imaginary beard. He eyed me, "I need to check up on this young lady on my side."

"What young lady? Stop sounding so European." I jab his side. He jerked in response, but he kept a tight lipped smile on his face, never losing his composure.

"I also need to see who this Yuko is, and I want to see the gang again." He grinned when he mentioned their names.

Itachi chuckled, "Why don't you call them over?"

"Oh yeah! I could! I mean, I should!" Shisui agreed almost immediately, nodding his head fervently.

"What about your parents?" I sweat drop, "Won't they tell you to pack up?"

"Nah, I can do that later. They'll forgive me…I think."

"It's fine, honey! I haven't seen them in a while!" His Mum called from the kitchen.

"Really?! THANKS, MUM!" Shisui grinned and giggled cheekily like a kid, before looking around, trying to find his phone. "Where's my phone?" He paused for a moment, looking at Itachi, then at Sasuke, then at me. His gaze lingered on me for a little longer, before he reached his hand into my left pocket and fished out my phone, immediately unlocking it and calling somebody.

"Wait, what?!" I didn't even have time to react because he was so quick. "Shisui! How do you even know my code?!"

"I have my ways." The Uchiha sang, pressing the phone to his ear. I could hear a faint dialling sound from the phone.

I grumbled a few words of annoyance, then sighed, my shoulders slumping. "You calling the others?"

"Yeah. Yahiko's up first. I'm having a guess that he's with Konan or Nagato." The oldest Uchiha elaborated. His eyes lit up when he heard something from the other side, "Yahiko! It's me! Why? She's over at mine right now…wait, no, no, not yet…anyway, come over! I just came back this morning. Jet lagged as hell, but still functional!" A pause, "Konan and Nagato are with you now, too? Bring them along as well! And drag Yuko here while you're at it! Huh? Nah, I just want to…see his face…in person…alright, I'll see you soon then! Get here quick or Ari-kun will eat all the food."

"You mean _you_ , right?" I deadpan.

Itachi laughed and Sasuke rolled her eyes, sliding down so that he sat next to Itachi on the ground with us.

"Alright, bye." Shisui ended the call and handed it back to me, grinning, "Thanks, Ari-kun."

"Now answer my question: how do you know my code." I made it more like a statement rather than a question, but he got what I meant.

"Well, I could say that _I have my ways_ like before _,_ but to be more specific, I saw you put it in when we were on Skype. It's not that hard to figure it out if you keep doing it in front of me." The male inched closer to Sasuke when I shoved him into the sofa.

"You shouldn't just look at people's phones like that! That's invasion of privacy!" I crossed my arms and glared at him like a sulking kid.

"Hey, hey, but it's not like you have anything to hide, do you?" He wiggled his eyebrows as he leaned closer to me, but stayed rooted in his spot.

I eyed him suspiciously and placed a hand on his cheek, pushing him back to his seat, "And why would you care?!"

"Hm, don't need to get so defensive. Just curious." He smiled and went back to his seat, but I pushed too hard so he accidently hit into Sasuke.

"Sorry!" I quickly mumbled an apology as the younger Uchiha gave a look of disdain at both me and his cousin.

"Better be."

"Sasuke." Itachi turned his head ever so slightly at his younger brother, successfully shutting him up.

 _The power of Itachi…_

"Anyway, should we help Mum make food? She seems to be cooking up a storm." Shisui glanced into the kitchen through one of the doors.

His cousins and I followed his gaze and saw that his Mum was indeed cooking a lot of stuff. There were lots of things on the table that were prepared, and lots of stuff on the benches, too.

"Yeah, I think we should." Itachi was the first to get up, followed by the tiny Sasuke, then Shisui, then me.

We made our way to the kitchen to give a helping hand, which delighted the Uchiha mother.

"Oh, that's right! Arisa, dear, why don't you call your parents here for lunch?" She smiled warmly at me. She was stirring something in the pot; it looked like…curry?

"I'm pretty sure my Mum can come, but Dad's on a business trip at the moment, so I don't think he'll be able to." I took out my phone and proceeded to call my Mum.

"That's fine, dear. Go call your Mum first, you hear?"

"Yup."

I strode back into the living room and pressed the phone to my ear, pacing back and forth as I waited for her to answer. I could hear Shisui and Itachi talking while preparing some salad, and I even saw Sasuke steal some tomatoes and eat them when nobody was watching. Too bad mate, I was!

" _Arisa? What are you calling at this hour for_?" My Mum answered.

"Hi Mum! Shisui's back today, so we're having a big feast. They want you to come for lunch."

" _Oh, really? That sounds wonderful! I'll come by when I have lunch break._ " She sounded excited.

"That's good. By the way, when's Dad coming back? I'm surprised he isn't here to welcome back his 'second son'."

By the way, Dad refers to his 'first son' as me. Don't know why though.

" _Oh, your father? He's still got a few days to go. It is pretty unfortunate that he's not going to attend this feast, since what Akimi makes it delicious!"_

Akimi is Shisui's Mum's name. She tries to get me to call her that because she's known me basically since I was born, but then I'd feel like Fugaku's glaring at me from somewhere…

"True. Alright, I'll see you soon."

" _See you!_ "

I hung up and headed back to the kitchen.

"My Mum can come." I told Shisui's Mum.

"Wonderful!" She grinned.

I went to help Shisui as he grated some cheese. "Yo, Shi-chan."

"Yo."

I got some olive oil and sprinkled some over the salad, "Shi-chan, where's your Dad? I swear I saw him come in with us."

"Dad? He went out for a case." Shisui placed the cheese back down and got a bottle of olives, popping the lid off and scooping some of the salty delicacy into the salad, "He'll be back by the time we start eating, but apparently it's a very important case, so he went off quite quickly."

"I see…the police are quite busy nowadays." I take some pomegranate and cut it in half, sprinkling the seeds over the green food.

"Yeah. Dad's especially all over the place. It was honestly a miracle that he even picked me up from the airport, considering his schedule's been nothing but hectic." The male sighed, "But that can't be helped. I just hope the work load isn't as heavy next time round."

I open a can of beans and drain them, placing them in a separate bowl. I sprinkle some salt on top, along with some olive oil.

"I hope so too."


	26. Step 26

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #26

* * *

Once the feast had been prepared and set out on the table, we all sat down. Mum had arrived just before everyone had helped set up, jollily greeting everyone and being affectionate. Of course, she doted on the Uchiha that just got back, telling him that he had grown etcetera, etcetera.

It was nice seeing everybody here. The others had arrived as well, shortly after Mum, and had helped out.

"Woah, you've gotten taller than Yahiko!" Nagato expressed his awe at his friend.

"Have I?" Shisui looked at him with surprise, then shifted his gaze to Yahiko.

"Oh, why don't we see?" My Mum excitedly clapped her hands together.

Sometimes I think she's more of a kid than I am.

With a small pause, the orange haired and curly haired males stood up, comparing their height. Everyone on the table marvelled at their height and pointed out who was taller, who, in the end, was Shisui.

"It's not my fault he's got the Uchiha genes…" Yahiko muttered under his breath. "Tall, beautiful people everywhere."

Unfortunately for him, the whole table heard, and started laughing. Shisui slapped his friend on the back, making him nearly lurch his food from his mouth, earning the Uchiha a sharp glare.

"Well, you're a looker too! If I'm so _beautiful_ then how come you've already got a girlfriend?" He cheekily wiggled his brows at Yahiko, then at Konan.

"Oh, you and Konan are together?!" Akimi exclaimed, eyes wide as she eyed the two.

Yahiko couldn't hide the blush that was forming on his cheeks and bashfully looked away, giving a small nod and confirmation, "…y-yeah…for a while now…"

"That was a real 180 he just did there." I commented, giggling.

"Well, enough about that! Tell us about Europe, honey." Akimi smiled warmly at her son.

Shisui took the stage and started to spill the beans on his study abroad. It didn't take long until everyone was talking amongst themselves, parent and parent, teen and teen.

"So this is Yuko…" Sasuke stared at the older male intently. If I didn't know the little guy, it would look like he's giving him the death glare.

Feeling a gaze on himself, the flirtatious fop turned to Sasuke, giving him a smile and wink. Sasuke blinked a few times, his brows furrowing in confusion. Itachi watched his little brother, holding a smile.

"So this is Shisui, isn't it?" Yuko stared straight at said male. He sat right across from him, so it was almost like a staring contest.

I sat in between Nagato, and Konan, who sat next to Yahiko. And as known, Yahiko sat next to Shisui. Yuko sat next to Sasuke, who sat in between Itachi and Yuko.

"Yup. You must be Yuko, right?" Shisui watched the other male.

"Yeah. It's nice to meet you." Yuko gave him a smile.

"It's nice to meet you too." Shisui smiled, matching the other teen.

For some unexplainable reason, the air began to get a little stifling. I glanced over at Yahiko, Konan and Nagato. They felt it too, and felt a little awkward. I looked to Itachi and Sasuke. Sasuke pressed himself further into his seat, whilst Itachi watched the staring battle unfold, swirling a cup of water.

"Yahiko is right; you really _are_ good looking." Yuko grinned.

"You're just being nice. I could say the same to you." Shisui matched his grin.

I inhaled a sharp breath and reached to get some curry.

"I've heard a lot about you from Arisa." Yuko started.

"The same goes for me…but about you." Shisui matched Yuko's tone of voice, which had gone down a notch, but held a sly feeling.

I nearly choke on nothing, feeling the tension in the air thicken.

 _Oh…kay…_

I got my curry and started to eat slowly, trying not to think so much about the first meeting between Shisui and Yuko.

"She said that you were a good friend," Yuko smirked, "That you suck for not coming back in these 3 years."

Shisui chuckled, "She says that a _flirtatious fop_ keeps being clingy."

If smiles could kill, these would. They were smiling at each other, but it was almost hostile. I think I could see electrical sparks flying in the background, setting fire to everything in view.

 _Well, I'm going down with this burning house._

"Okay, guys, break it up." Nagato sternly told both Shisui and Yuko, who turned his way when he started talking. He turned to Yuko, "Sorry about Shisui. He's a little grumpier than usual because he's _jetlagged_ ," Nagato turned to Shisui, "Sorry about Yuko, he's just likes messing with you."

Shisui sighed through his nose and he closed his eyes for a long second, "Yeah. Jetlag sucks."

"Sorry. Hope we can be good friends." Yuko clapped his hands together and gave a nod to the Uchiha, apologetic.

"Yeah. That sounds good." Shisui smiled. He picked a cherry tomato from Sasuke's plate and quickly ate it, grinning.

Sasuke didn't even notice until he looked down at his plate. "Shisui-san?! My tomato!"

"Just get another one, Sasuke." Itachi picked some from his own salad and left it on his brother's plate.

"But these are yours?!"

"I'm giving them to you. Don't you want them?"

"I, uh…"

"I guess I'll have them then." Shisui sung, stabbing his fork through several of them with speed. He ate them all in a matter of seconds.

"THAT'S NOT FAIR, SHISUI-SAN!" Sasuke exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at his cousin.

"Sasuke, calm down." Fugaku's stern voice told his youngest son off.

The boy stiffened and sulked in his seat, glaring daggers at the older Uchiha teen, who only smiled.

A light instrumental ringtone suddenly sounded in the room, causing everyone to become silent and turn their heads towards the sound.

"Sorry, excuse me for a second." My Mum took out her phone and smiled to the rest of us, taking her leave. I heard the front door open and close quietly.

"Can you pass the salad, please, Itachi?" I reached my hand out.

The Uchiha glanced at me and gave me a small nod before giving me what I wanted. I mumbled a thanks before taking my share and handing it around.

It wasn't long before people started to talk again. It was more of a gentle chatter, quieter than before.

I heard the front door open and close, and immediately knew Mum had come back inside. Though, her footsteps were quite hurried, like she was running or walking at a brisk pace.

"Can I please speak to you for a moment, Kazuto, Fugaku?" Mum held her phone in her hand and she was smiling.

Kazuto was Shisui's dad. He exchanged knowing glances at Fugaku before standing up and excusing themselves, leaving to go somewhere more private.

"I wonder what they're talking about." I watched as they went, curiosity peaking.

"Maybe they're discussing something real important." Yuko said dumbly.

"Why else would they go out privately?" I retort.

Yuko snorted and rolled his eyes playfully, "Okay, smarty pants."

"Fop."

"Smarty pants."

"Fop—"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!"

I jumped in my seat, surprised at the loud voice that had come from outside. Everyone was just as shocked as I was, and we all turned to the front of the house, where my Mum and the others had gone.

The table had gone completely silent, until somebody broke it. "That sounded like your mother, Arisa." Mikoto noted.

"Mum?" I questioned. Sure, it did sound like her, but she sounded completely shrill and somewhat like a shrieking duck. "Uh…should I go check on her?"

Before the others said anything, I was already on my way towards the front door.

Mum's normally quite level headed and just happy and chirpy around people she knows, and very professional in her professional life. If she's this distressed, it means that something's happened.

"Wait, Arisa, let them just talk! I'm sure there's a reason for this!" Akimi protested, "It's probably just nothing." I glance back quickly, but my feet still move.

I could hear muffled talking through the front door, but not so much that I could distinctively hear their words. However, once my hand was on the door handle, I wasn't able to push down. Not because I lacked strength, but because of those words that I heard from the other side.

"… _so Akira's being held for ransom, now."_

And Akira, was my father's name.


	27. Step 27

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #27

* * *

I stood there silently, my hand on the handle. The others in the dining room were all quiet, and there were gentle whispers here and there. I didn't hear what they were talking about, but it became deathly quiet.

"Ari-kun?" I heard someone move from their seat and go towards me. I knew who it was, but I didn't do anything.

It felt like an eternity as the footsteps from behind got louder, and the hushed talking from outside got faster.

I felt the handle of the door move on its own, and it swung open slowly, revealing my Mum. Her expression was of shock when she saw me standing there. My gaze went from where the handle once was and to the people who were coming back inside.

Fugaku and Kazuto were about to come back in too, but because Mum stopped in her tracks, they did too.

"Arisa…" Mum whispered. "You didn't…you heard us?" Her voice held incredulity.

"Did Dad really go on a business trip?" I met her eyes, almost pleading her to tell me that was the truth.

"Akira…your father…" Mum pressed her lips together, hesitant.

"Let's go back inside. Discuss this later." Fugaku said rather boldly. He turned to my Mum, "Reiko."

Mum nodded and walked in, pushing me by the shoulders. "Let's smile."

I look at her as if she was crazy – Dad was being held for ransom and she was going to smile?! It made me furious, but I agreed with her – I had to smile. Not for the complicated situation, but rather to tell the others that everything was fine.

When Mum turned me around, I nearly bumped into Shisui. I forgot he had come up to see what was going on. He had an unreadable expression on his face when he took a step back and smiled gently.

"The food's getting cold. Let's go."

Mum pushed me towards the table and grinned when she saw everyone. "Sorry guys, there was just a little misunderstanding, so let's continue eating!"

Fugaku and Kazuto went back to their seats, being their usual selves. Mum was acting, I knew it, because I've seen it over a hundred times. And each time, she got better.

I set myself back down on my seat, feigning my ignorance on the matter of what just happened. The others stared at the each of us that had just sat down, including Shisui.

"What happened?" Yuko broke the silence, questioned directed at me.

"Hm? Nothing happened." I blinked a few times, faking surprise.

Yuko tilted his head slightly, before continuing his meal. "Okay, but you seemed to be deep in thought when you stopped in front of the door."

"In front of the door?" I pause for a moment. That was when I heard the news. I had to make up something random and hope to the Gods that he'd believe it. "I guess I was thinking…they were talking about something that had happened at Mum's office, so the police got involved. I guess Mum was really shocked to see me there, you know? She didn't want to worry me."

"So she didn't tell you this beforehand?" The flirtatious fop questioned.

"No, she didn't." I give him a tight lipped smile. All this stuff was made up – it was complete and utter bullshit. I just hoped it sounded convincing enough.

To my relief, Yuko and the others bought it.

 _Thank the Lords…_

The rest of the meal continued rather pleasantly, with the atmosphere even becoming warm and jolly again. Though it seemed like the problem had been solved, in reality, it wasn't. At the end of the day, it was still there.

"Thank you for coming, all of you!" Akimi grinned and held up a glass of iced lemon tea. There was no alcohol because there were minors, and as Fugaku said; 'it was too early'.

Everyone held up their iced drinks and cheered, before taking a mouthful.

"Thanks for coming guys." Shisui grinned as his glass clinked with the group individuals.

"Welcome back, Shisui." They spoke in unison. The Uchiha grinned.

"Ah, Arisa, we're staying back because we need to sort some things." Mum tapped my shoulder. I nodded.

"Alright, I guess we should get going now." Konan smiled and hugged all of us. The guys agreed and did something else that looked like something between a hug and a fist. Afterwards, they left, bidding us goodbye.

The only ones left were the Uchiha's, my Mum and me. We packed up the mess on the dining room table before going to the lounge with our drinks.

Shisui sat down next to me. For your information, it was on the sofa. Kazuto and Akimi sat on the comfy chairs on the side, and Fugaku and Mikoto sat on the other sofa. Mum sat next to me. Itachi and Sasuke were also there, but they sat near their parents.

"Let's get straight to the point." Fugaku's eyes sharpened as he watched everyone around the room. "Akira is currently missing. As most of you know, Reiko took a call during the feast. It was at this time that they informed her – informed us – that Akira was held for ransom. We still do not know his whereabouts, but we know that his ransom is 1 million."

I raise my hand slowly, feeling it cutting through the tension, but not separating it, as I did so. Let's just say it was really hard to raise my hand in a tense atmosphere.

Instantly, the police head's eyes were on me (and so was everyone else's). He didn't say anything, except wait for me to speak.

"Have you tried tracking the call?" My voice was steady and serious.

"We have a team right outside that tried, but it didn't work." Fugaku glanced at my mother, "The other calls we got; we were unable to track the location from where the call came. There was interference."

"The other calls?" Shisui spoke up for the first time. He seemed unusually calm, as if he was used to situations like this.

 _Was Shisui always like this?_

But nonetheless, I was curious about the other calls Fugaku mentioned. Turning my attention to the man, I awaited his answer.

He barely nodded. "There were 2 other calls. One was before Akira disappeared, and the other after he disappeared. The third was the one today."

"What did the other calls say?" Shisui pressed.

The Uchiha head closed his eyes whilst he explained, "The first call was a threat to Akira. They threatened that if he said anything, he would be erased."

I tensed and was about to speak my hysterically active mind, but a tiny nudge to my side stopped me. I glanced over, seeing Shisui with a small smile.

He mouthed, ' _Just listen.'_

I nodded very slowly. I guess it would be better if I did.

"The second call…was them calling to say that they have picked up Akira for a chat." Fugaku's brows knit together. "That was not too long ago."

"So the whole ' _Dad is on a business trip'_ was a lie?" I couldn't even hide the disbelief in my voice. "You didn't even tell me when my Dad was kidnapped?!"

"Reiko didn't want to worry you." Mikoto flickered her eyes to me and my mother.

I rubbed my temples. This situation was stressful. After some breaths to calm myself down, I began to interrogate the heck out of the officers. "Okay, I'll forgive you this time. Why did you want to keep it under wraps? Do you have any leads? Why was Dad taken? Who kidnapped him? What—"

"Oi, oi, Ari-kun," A hand landed on my shoulder. Obviously it was Shisui. "Let him answer one question at a time."

I snorted but reluctantly agreed.

"This is a secret operation directly under my supervision," Fugaku started. "Akira was taken because he associated himself with a certain company."

"A company?"

" _Arrow."_

I never thought that I would hear that name again.


	28. Step 28

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #28

* * *

"… _Arrow?_ " I was literally in shock.

No way. NO WAY! NO FREAKING WAY! _ARROW_?!

Fugaku looked at me with the same expression as before, but continued. "Akira has been under surveillance for a long time."

"W-w-wait! Wait one moment! Are…are you saying that you guys were watching him the whole time?!" I exclaimed.

"To put it bluntly, yes." Fugaku nodded. "It was at the request of your mother."

"Mum…?" I turned to her with wide eyes. "Why?"

Did she not trust in Dad? What the hell was happening behind the scenes? Why didn't I know any of this stuff?!

"Your father's behaviour became a little strange when he started to get in contact with this company. He wouldn't tell me anything about it, so I consulted the police force." Mum said quietly. She placed a hand over my head and stroked my hair, pulling me in for a hug. "I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you. I didn't want to drag you into this sordid affair. I thought it would resolve soon, but…" She let me go.

I took a long breath of air.

Okay.

So.

Dad got kidnapped because he involved himself with Arrow, which always had scandals but they came out clean each time. Now he's held 1 million dollars for ransom.

"Ah…! Mum! That last call you got from them! Did they just tell you that Dad was being held for 1 million?" I grabbed her upper arms and shook her slightly.

"Yes…" Mum looked baffled. "And some other stuff…"

"Are you talking about the location in which the ransom will be delivered?" Fugaku questioned. I nodded. "They said to deliver it to the abandoned warehouse by the docks."

"…what a stereotypical location to hand over a ransom." I muttered. I've seen that happen in crime dramas and shows! This isn't something straight out of a scripted show like that!

"They might change it in the future." Itachi suddenly spoke up, surprising everyone. He looked around the room to meet various pairs of eyes, "The person behind this seems to be very clever. They probably said the warehouse first, but the real destination might be elsewhere." He paused for a brief second, looking to his aunt, uncle, then parents. "They may already know we're monitoring him."

"That's true. They definitely might already know." Kazuto intertwined his fingers and pressed his thumbs to his lips in a thoughtful motion. "We have taken precautions – those who are monitoring take turns and disguise themselves well."

"But it's still a possibility, isn't it?" Shisui leaned on his knees.

"Yes."

"To answer your other question, Arisa," Fugaku started. "We don't know the reason Akira was taken. We only know it is associated with Arrow."

I search this stern eyes, trying to see if there was anything he was hiding from me. I couldn't find anything in the midst of them, and reluctantly nodded my head.

"I…I see…"

"We will continue to carry out our duties to help Akira," Fugaku didn't hesitate to start talking about the plan they were to take, "We will need to first find where Akira has been taken. We will also find out the reason why he was taken. There is likely a good reason for it…" His eyes darkened over, as if he thought of something that didn't go in his favour.

"We will get to work _now._ " Fugaku ordered. He eyed my mother and I, "You two assist with any information you have."

To Kazuto, "You're to give instructions to the communications staff."

To Itachi and Shisui, "You know what to do."

They all stood up and started to file out. Shisui flicked my forehead, breaking me out of my trance like state. "Don't try and give yourself a headache, yeah? I'll be back." He smiled and went off with a wave of the hand.

 _Where's he going?_

Itachi followed suit, and Sasuke just kind of sat there, not knowing what to do. He went over to his Mum. It was only the 3 mothers, Sasuke and me in the room.

"Mum…where do we give the information we have?" I took another scan of the room, "All the officers went out."

"We just tell Mikoto or Akimi." Mum wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close. "I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you."

"Mum, it's fine. It couldn't be helped." I stare at the ground for a long while. "Did they threaten you and tell you what they would do with Dad if you didn't pay them?"

Mum froze for a brief moment. Her body had gone as rigid as ice. It was at that moment that I knew the answer without verbal exchange.

"Hey…" Sasuke said. I heard him take a few steps, and I saw his feet. I look up, but when I did, Sasuke hit my forehead, "Stop being such a loser."

My eye twitched in sudden rage at the kid – what was his problem!?

"OI, YOU—" I grabbed his wrist.

"If there's a problem, there's always a way to solve it. Just use your brain, idiot." Sasuke's brows were slightly furrowed. "You're hurting my wrist."

"What…" I started, grip loosening.

 _DID HE JUST SAY SOMETHING SMART?!_

I was flabbergasted. But what he said was the truth. He had a point.

"Sasuke, don't call Arisa that. It's rude." Mikoto scolded sternly.

The boy had a brooding look as he walked away from me.

"Sorry, Arisa." Mikoto apologized.

"…no…it's fine." I spoke slowly.

 _Was Sasuke trying to cheer me up? Wait…no, that can't be it. Maybe he wants me to do something?_

I stare at the kid as I thought.

 _If Dad was taken by Arrow…the first time, he was warned. The second time, he was taken. The third time, he was ransomed. When he was taken, there was no struggle…_

"Mum!" I abruptly turned to the office woman, who looked as shocked as I did when I learnt that Arrow was associated with this.

"A-Arisa?!"

"When Dad was taken! There was no struggle right?! Right?!"

"Y-yeah…"

"Did Dad leave anything behind!? Did he write anything!? Have you searched his belongings?!"

"No, I haven't—"

"WE HAVE TO SEARCH HIS BELONGINGS!" I placed my hands on Mum's shoulders and shook her. "LET'S GO!" I pulled her up and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the door.

"Wait! Where are you going?!" Akimi and Mikoto stood up, alarmed.

"I think Dad might have left something behind! If he's been at this for a few years, then there's bound to be something in his stuff! We're going to search it! You can come along if you want, I don't really care." I opened the door and went outside. The Uchiha's followed me, watching as we crossed the road and went back to our house.

"Arisa…" Mum unlocked the door and we went inside. Without taking off my shoes, I leaped up the stairs and into my parent's room, beginning to dig through their stuff.

 _Anything…anything…_

I looked through the whole room, trying to find if there was anything. I knew Mum and Dad didn't combine their stuff because it was hard to keep track, so all Dad's stuff was on the right of the room, and the left, it was Mum's.

Going through Dad's stuff – he had a lot of things. Trophies, medals, all for martial arts competitions that he won or gotten second or third place for. There were letters, too, but they were from his friends who worked overseas.

I stare at the letters for a while, before deciding that I'd look through them. They were all the same, just asking about what's happened and all the like. There was nothing of interest in any of the letters, until I came across the very last one.

 _ **Dear Akira,**_

 _ **Why don't you come visit Arrow's head office? I can help you get what you want.**_

 _ **Kakuzu.**_

"Who the heck is Kakuzu?!" I pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to think of anybody by the name of Kakuzu. I don't remember Dad having a friend named that? Maybe I don't know him…?

"Did you find anything important, Arisa?" Mum walked into the room and peered over my shoulder, seeing what I was so intently looking at.

Her eyes widened and she snatched the letter out of my hands, inspecting every little detail. "This is...from that time…" She whispered, biting her thumb nail.

"Mum? From what time? What are you talking about?" I sharply gasped, "Do you know this guy?!"

"Yes. I've only met him once; he came to our house to talk to your Dad." She added, "But that was a very long time ago, now. You were quite young."

"I was quite young…?" I momentarily paused for a moment. "Mum! When was the letter sent?!"

"When was it sent?" She inspected the letter again, "It was sent a few years ago…"

"A few years ago?"

"Yes…" Mum handed the letter back to me, "It was around the time your Dad told me that he would be going to check out Arrow…"

"I've got to get this to the police!" I hurriedly tried to get up, but Mum stopped me.

"He might have some more things somewhere. It would be better if you went there after you've inspected this place."

"…you're right." I sat back down and went to rummage through Dad's stuff, moving onto another box.

There was nothing of importance in any of his other things, so I checked his clothes pockets, trying to see if he forgot anything in them. There was nothing in his martial arts outfits, so I ended up looking through his collection of suits.

It was there that I found something crumpled and scrunched into a ball. I took it out, seeing that there were irregular black lines on parts of the paper.

 _Something's written on here…_

I carefully opened it up, and when I did, my eyes went wide with astonishment. Quickly, I smoothed out the little piece of paper, holding it so that I could see, in plain sight, exactly what was inked on it.

"Arisa…? What's that?"

"It's…" I couldn't even say anything.

On the piece of paper, there was something drawn. It looked like a child drew it; it was of a dinosaur on the ground, with an arrow on its side. A gun was drawn a few centimetres away from the dinosaur, and the words ' _Help me!'_ and ' _I'm not!'_ were written horribly on top of the picture.

"This…this is…"

 _If it was meant to be a practical joke…why does Dad have one?_


	29. Step 29

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #29

* * *

Hurriedly, I delved through more of Dad's items, trying to find if there was anything else. There was nothing. The only things that I was able to take from this was the letter from the guy called 'Kakuzu', and a note with pictures and words that were similar to the notes that my group and I got back a couple of years ago.

 _What even?!_

I rushed out of Mum and Dad's room and went straight into mine, going through my desk to find the spiky ball that Shisui had given me. I distinctively remembered that I had stored the notes in there. Once I found it, I shoved it into one of my pockets and rushed down the stairs, calling Mum to come along, as I headed back to the Uchiha household.

"Why are you so out of breath?" Mikoto opened the door with a surprised expression, "Did you find something?"

"Y-yeah…I…did…" I was breathing heavily.

"You didn't have to leave me behind, Arisa!" Mum came up from behind me and Mikoto stepped out of the way, before heading inside.

The others eyed us when we sat down, wondering what we found.

"There were 2 things." I pulled out the letter and the note, showing them to the Uchiha's.

They looked carefully. Mikoto and Akimi gave each other a sideways glance. Akimi nodded, "Hold on to those for now."

"Huh? Shouldn't I show them to the officers?" I inquired. I expected them to say something along the lines of ' _go to the police station'…_ but I guess not.

"They'll come back here soon, so don't worry too much." Akimi smiled. "Why don't you rest here for now?"

I put the note and letter back into my pocket. I thought for a brief moment – should I stay here and rest, or should I go out to find some more information?

"I'm sorry, Akimi, but my lunch break is going to end soon." Mum wore an apologetic expression. "I have to go back to work."

"Alright. Don't stress too much." Akimi nodded. "Take care."

"I will. Thank you. I'll be going now. Bye." Mum waved once and she was off. I heard the car drive off into the distance.

"What are you thinking about, Arisa?" Mikoto leaned on her knee. I look up at her, then back down to the ground.

"I was thinking about whether or not to stay here or go to the station." I admitted.

"And the outcome?"

"I was going to stay here. There's something I have to do." I slid off the sofa and onto the rug, in front of the table. I took out the spiky ball, letter and note. I took everything out of the ball and spread it on the coffee table, separating what I got a few years ago, and the most recent ones.

"What's this?" Akimi questioned, sitting down.

"Itachi told me about this." Mikoto watched me as I spread them out. I listened to her closely. I didn't know that Itachi knew about this. Did Shisui tell him?

"Well, what is it then?"

"I'm not entirely sure. He said it was a sort of puzzle." The Uchiha mother glanced at Sasuke. He had taken a seat in front of me, just staring at what I was doing. I guess he was bored.

"Yeah, it is a kind of puzzle…but it was from a couple of years ago. I'm surprised we found something similar that was sent to my Dad." I tried to arrange them in logical order, though my mind wasn't really on it, but rather on the conversation at hand.

"A puzzle from a couple of years ago? Arisa, don't you think there's the possibility of it being linked?" Mikoto smiled at me.

"…yeah, I do. That's why I brought all that I could, relating to this." I nodded, giving her a brief glance.

"It reminds me of when you and Shisui were little." Akimi giggled, "You would always play detective around the house and outside, with made up evidence and clues. Itachi would sometimes come along, but Sasuke was too young to go."

I laughed slowly at the memories. It was a long time ago, but like Akimi said, Shisui and I used to always go play detective. Itachi would sometimes join, though not all the time. Let's just say we were pretty good at it…I think.

When I think back to it, there were many times I played the lead role of the detective, and Itachi and Shisui were my assistants. We did rotate, but they let me play the part most of the time. Though they were always the one that solved the cases, and I just kind of took all the non-existent credit.

"I guess so…" I rub the back of my head. "Alright, I'm going to solve this, so I'll be leaving the conversation…" I turn back to the little sheets of paper in front of me, as well as Sasuke's curious but stoic expression.

I ignored the kid, since he didn't seem to want to talk at all, and went through the files that were my memories, trying to remember what I thought the notes meant at that time.

 _Okay. So firstly, what we have is Yahiko's letter. It had a rhyming poem on it, and was addressed to him when he found it at school. There was no sender details. Shisui said it might be a warning letter._

 _The second was my note. It had a dead dinosaur that was shot in the head, along with a gun that was tossed to the side, with the words 'I'm not' written on it._

 _The third was Yuko's note. It said 'Help me!'_

 _The fourth was Konan's; it was the picture of an arrow._

 _And the fifth…isn't from the time we got ours, but now. It's a combination of all the notes that we've got, excluding Yahiko's letter._

"Wait a minute…combination?" I whispered aloud, eyes narrowing. I stared at the notes for a long time.

"Took you long enough." Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"What?!" I snapped out of my thoughts and look at him.

He had a bored expression, but he pointed to the note we just found, "If this is a combination of the other notes, then that would mean that the other notes you got, and this one, are most likely from the same sender."

I was silent as I listened to the Uchiha – he had taken the words right out of my mind. Did he figure that out quicker than I did?

"I guess we came to the same conclusion." I point to the letter Yahiko received, "I'm at a loss about this one, though. It feels out of place compared to the other ones. I'm not sure whether or not it's related."

"…no, it's not related." The boy skimmed the contents of the letter.

"How can you be so sure?" I wanted to add on 'since you're only 11!' but I knew better than to say that, since the kid's actually smart and I shouldn't really question him about smarts when he's probably smarter than me.

"If you look at the way the notes were sent as, then it should be obvious." Sasuke sneered at me, "Or can't you see it?"

"Hey, hey, hey…" My lips twitch into a contemptuous smile, knowing full well that he was trying to insult me. "How can I not see it, when it's right in front of me? The letter was sent in a different format to the others."

"There's more to it than that, loser." He got my note and Yuko's, placing them next to each other, "If you analyse the writing, it looks very similar." He added Konan's note next to my note, then tapped the pictures present on both, "The pictures are very similar in style as well."

"I…never noticed that…" I inspect the notes and realise exactly what Sasuke was talking about. I didn't even see that they could be related in that way. For a moment, I was pretty amazed at his deduction skills. "We think the person who sent these was the same person, right? But you're saying that they're _very similar_ , but that doesn't mean that they are. It could be a person with a very similar style, as you'd put it."

The boy had a thinking face on, then started to feel the paper that the messages were scribbled on. I just watched what he was doing, having no clue as to what touching paper would do.

"The paper's the same." He commented.

"But isn't paper all the same…?" I questioned with a sceptical expression.

"No, stupid. Have you ever been to an arts and crafts store?" The Uchiha sighed, "Why don't you feel the paper yourself? The letter, as well."

I did as he said, ignoring his continual insults to me. Indeed, he was right. The paper that the notes were sent on was thicker than the paper for the letter.

"So…what does this mean?" I tilt my head, completely and utterly confused.

"For starters, thicker paper is more expensive. It's not likely that the sender would use 2 completely different paper weights to send notes. It would be inconvenient. Normally they would use the normal paper that we get from stores, which would be the same as the letter." Sasuke paused, taking the notes and staring at them close up. He placed them back down and tapped his finger on the edge of one of them, "Do you see this?"

"See what?" There was nothing to see. It was just a blank part of paper.

The Uchiha lifted the note up and shoved it in my face, "Look closer!"

When I did, I saw a tiny mark on the edge, which I didn't see before. "There's a mark here."

"Yeah. Doesn't it look familiar?" Sasuke urged.

I stared at the mark again. It kind of looked like a triangle, but it was pretty transparent. It was hard to see.

"Familiar? How?" I was still at a loss.

"So you really are just stupid…" The boy just shook his head, looking annoyed and disappointed at the same time, before bringing another note, Konan's, to my attention. "It's the same as this!" He put them together and let me see the result.

"Huh?" I stare at the note that had that (which was the note I got), and then at Konan's. My eyes widened in realisation when I saw the connection. "Sasuke…you're a genius!" I praised. I think we finally got a lead, but…

My face fell when I realised where this would lead to.

"I think we have to hand these to Father." Sasuke stared at all the notes.

"Yeah. If the paper's from Arrow themselves, then there isn't really much we can do about it." I hung my head. "I thought when we'd finally gotten a clue…it turns out to be harder than I expected."

"At least you know it's someone who works at Arrow, who sent you these notes." Sasuke was now lying on the ground, arms behind his head in a relaxed pose.

"Who works there…?"

"Yeah. That paper can't be given anywhere else. It's a trademark for their company, so only their employees have access to it."

It comes to hit me that there are thousands of people working for Arrow. How do we know who to question?

"Will we be able to find Dad in time…?" I bite my thumb nail gently, staring off into the distance. Worry began to well up in me.

I thought that I could do something, but in the end, it was futile. I couldn't do anything. There was nothing that I _could_ do.

It dawned on me that when Arrow had taken Dad, they would have made sure that nothing incriminated them, and if it did, they would've gotten rid of it. But these were left behind…did that mean that they knew that we wouldn't be able to find anything?

They knew that there wouldn't be a case?

 _Arrow is always in the centre of a lot of controversy, but they never get prosecuted; because there was nothing against them; because they got rid of the evidence._

 _Because they were above the law._


	30. Step 30

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #30

* * *

I was mentally cursing. Up until now, I didn't understand the seriousness of this situation. Arrow was a real pain in the butt; they had connections everywhere, and they come out clean even in the dirtiest of situations. How could I have forgotten about that?!

What would become of Dad? Is he alright? What did he even do to Arrow for them to kidnap him like this?!

Shit…I wonder how worried Mum is.

"Arisa, are you alright?" Mikoto kneeled down beside me, concern evident in her voice.

I turn to her, eyes wide and alert from all this worrying and thinking I was doing. I was sitting on the side of the sofa, looking out the window in thought. Well, up until she interrupted my thoughts.

"I'm…I'm fine…I think…" I mumbled lowly.

I couldn't think properly. DAMMIT! Shit, I need to stop worrying _too_ much, or it'll effect Mum as well! She'll be worse off than I am!

Mikoto looked quite sceptical, but placed a hand on my shoulder in an attempt to comfort me. "I know it's hard. Arisa, why don't you take a few deep breaths, clear your mind, then think of it again? It's probably overwhelming right now." She spoke soothingly.

I did as she said, breathing in deeply. I closed my eyes and tried to clear my thoughts. It was easier said than done, and each time I tried to dismiss a thought, another annoying one would pop up.

"It's alright if you can't. But just take it slowly."

"Mrs Uchiha…I don't think I can…my Dad is missing. And…Arrow is dangerous…" I whispered, hugging my knees. I put my chin on my knees and stared ahead, brows knitted together. This was making me frustrated.

"Are you hungry? The others will be back soon, so I'll be preparing some snacks. Is there anything you want in particular?" Mikoto tried her best to smile, but I could tell, even if I wasn't looking directly at her, that it wasn't a genuine one.

"I'm not really hungry…" I started, "But if I had to eat, maybe…some fruit."

"Alright. I'll prepare some for you. Why don't you talk to Sasuke while I do so? He seems to want to talk to you, but he's shy." Mikoto giggled and went off to the kitchen after casting a glance at her son and me.

Sasuke made a funny face when I turned to look at him, and then he glared at me. He snorted and crossed his arms, clearly telling me via body language that what his Mum said wasn't true.

"Oi. Sasuke." I turn to face him, though I'm still hugging my knees. "You're smart – what do you take of this situation? My brain's as good as scrambled eggs right now. It's hard to think."

"Huh? Which situation?" He leaned his elbow against the table and stared at whatever was in sight.

"Which?" I didn't even have the energy to sigh. "The one with the ransom and my Dad."

"Oh." Sasuke stared off into the distance for a while, then once he was done, he didn't even look at me before he started talking. "I don't get why they're asking for money."

"…excuse me?"

"You heard me, stupid." He rolled his eyes.

"No, I don't get why you're saying that." This suddenly perked my interest.

"Use your head, why don't you?!"

"I told you they were like scrambled eggs right now. Please help."

"Tch!" He muttered something incoherent under his breath. "Arrow's a rich company. Why would they ask for a ransom when they've already go so much?"

"…good point."

"Is that all you have to say?!" The pipsqueak snapped.

"Yeah." I drew circles on the ground, trying to organise my thoughts. Organising them is easier than pushing them out of my mind. I continued to draw circles aimlessly, and inclined my head to see everyone's faces.

As expected, Sasuke's face was scrunched up with annoyance; Akimi wasn't even there anymore, she had probably gone upstairs to do something, or went into the kitchen to help out Mikoto; Mum was upstairs sleeping in a guest room; so it was only Sasuke and me.

 _Huh. I didn't even know everyone had left. Was I_ that _out of it? Or did I just forget?_

Sasuke started to say something, but I had completely toned him out and reduced him to some background noise. I was too busy organising my thoughts to notice what he was saying.

Once I had organised my thoughts, Sasuke was still talking.

"…did this." He ended. "You get what I mean, right?" He glanced at me, expecting a smart answer.

"No." I answered almost immediately. His eye and the corner of his mouth twitched at the same time, his hand clenching into a fist.

"Did you even hear a word of what I just said?!" He glowered.

"No, not really. I was organising my thoughts. I don't think my mind's like scrambled eggs anymore." I clapped my hands together and exhaled a breath of relief. "Can you say all that again? I didn't quite catch what you were saying."

"I _said_ that it might not even be Arrow that is doing this!" The preteen frowned at me.

"If you frown like that, you'll get wrinkles."

"Shut up!"

I grin, watching him mutter something under his breath. I felt a lot better now, though I think my worry levels are still the same. It's just that I've accepted the situation a little more. I've got to act calm and keep my head.

 _Sasuke's got a point. Why would Arrow want money, even though they're already rich? Unless they want more money? That makes perfect sense, and no sense at all._

 _I guess I should wait for the police to really come back. I doubt I can solve this by myself._

"Wait a minute." I abruptly jerked my head to face Sasuke, which caught him by surprise.

"What?" He looked a little weirded out.

"Why aren't you helping in the police investigation? They could use a head like yours."

"They're not letting me. I'm too young."

"Oh. I'll put in a good word for you."

"You're not my boss. So stop acting like one."

"Whatever you say, little one."

"Tch."

"Did you two have a fight?" Mikoto stepped into the room, holding a tray. It had 2 fruit bowls. Her expression said it all; she wasn't surprised.

"We were just bickering." I give her a small smile.

"You act like a child sometimes." She set the food down in front of us. "How are you feeling?"

"Better than before. Thanks for asking."

Mikoto stared at me for a long while, and it was just silent in the room, except for the crunching of fruit coming from yours truly.

"Uh…" I gulped down whatever I was eating, "Mrs Uchiha, is everything okay?"

"Arisa, don't worry too much, okay? We've got everything under control." She smiled at me and then left.

"Look, Father will find your Dad." Sasuke stabbed his fork into a piece of watermelon. "There's no way he won't find him."

"Because your Dad's the best cop?" I smile.

"Yeah. That, too. Don't underestimate us!" He waved the fork at me.

"Yeah…I won't."

 _I won't underestimate you guys…rather, I think you're underestimating Arrow, and their ability to deceive the police._

"If your Dad isn't found, then he can't teach me martial arts." Sasuke muttered.

I heard that, and hummed lightly in response.

"…yeah."


	31. Step 31

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #31

* * *

By the time the police came back, it was already the evening. Our mothers all went to cook a storm in the kitchen, and when the feast came out, everyone dug in as if their life depended on it.

"Sho what didjoo do waal we wore gone?" Shisui questioned, talking through a full mouth. He looked really hungry, but he tried his best. I give him a funny look at his dorky face and pointed to his mouth.

"Shi-chan, only a baby would understand you when you talk like that." I pointed out. Although, I knew what he was trying to say; it wasn't even that hard.

Shisui shrugged and gulped down his food before asking the question again, "So what did you do while we were gone?"

"Me?" I glance around the table and see Sasuke stabbing a tomato and shoving it into his mouth. His glare on me looked like it could kill.

Itachi seemed to notice his brother's glaring and stole one of Sasuke's tomatoes, which averted his attention.

 _Okay…_

"So?" Shisui had his mouth full again.

I face him with a thoughtful look, "I'll tell you guys after we finish dinner."

The Uchiha was silent as he ate, staring at me for a long few seconds before shrugging again and nodding.

It was awkwardly silent the whole time, with minor chatter here and there. The air was thick with tension, as not everyone's mind was on the feast, but rather on something else entirely.

The look on Mum's face was distressing. She still had appetite, but the worrying made her look like she was going to cry. Though, knowing Mum, she wouldn't cry this easily. She's a strong woman.

She's probably seething with anger inside, ready to kick their asses into shape.

Remember, she did martial arts with Dad.

Though she might have gotten rusty.

"Arisa, Sasuke said he didn't want his tomatoes." Itachi handed me a plate of them, with a smile on his face.

I look at him with a surprised expression, not sure what to say. Sasuke was desperately trying to get back the plate of tomatoes that Itachi probably took from him by force.

"Uh…" I let the vowel hang, laughing a little nervously. I pointed at Sasuke, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, he said so himself." Itachi poked Sasuke in the side, which made him jerk a weird way, but it stopped him from trying to get the plate.

"If you insist…" I took it from Itachi, but when I held onto the plate's bottom, I felt the texture of a piece of paper. I glance at the older brother, who still had a smile on his face. Once he saw that I had gotten hold of the ceramic, he let go.

I brought the plate back to me and set it on the table, slipping the note out from under.

"What's it say?" Shisui whispered to me. His voice was really low, and it was quiet enough for me to hear.

I unfold the note and see that it just said 'Sorry', and Sasuke's name on the bottom right. Shisui had leaned closer and peered to see. His brows rose with surprise and a small smile graced his lips as he got a tomato from my plate and ate it.

I incline my head so that I was facing Sasuke, who sat directly opposite from me. He was looking away, with an almost humiliated look.

At first thought, I wondered why he was saying sorry. But then I realised that he was probably apologizing for calling me all those names before. You see, respecting their seniors is something that's almost like a custom. Though, you don't exactly need to follow it, but it would be respectful to, and would be better for relationships and such.

But since Sasuke basically grew up with me, I hardly think it was necessary.

"Thanks, Sasuke. Though, I don't think you'd need to. I don't think you mean anything malicious." I smile at the boy.

He looked at me from the side and mumbled lowly, "But your Dad…"

"Look, oh little one, it's fine. This and that are two different problems altogether, okay?" I put a tomato on his plate.

Sasuke looked at me with an unsure expression and then stared at his plate, then looked away.

Sasuke most likely thought that after Dad disappeared, it would be easier to offend me. In all honesty, that's pretty far from the truth. I'm so used to Sasuke insulting me that it's almost kind of normal.

Except it's probably not normal.

After dinner, everyone gathered in the living room to chat about what the findings were for the day. Mum told us that she had some time off from work to sort this problem. Shisui had urged me to go first, which I did. I told them about our findings, and what Sasuke and I thought about them. The police force were thoughtful and took the notes in as evidence.

"So Sasuke was helping you the whole time, huh?" Shisui handed me a glass of water. I nodded, eyes unconsciously glancing over to the boy. "He's always wanted to be like Itachi, so I guess this is a stepping stone for him."

"Yeah…"

No longer than I finished the word did Fugaku start talking again. This time, he told us any important information that he found, which was a list of suspects that were connected to Arrow. Of course, Kakuzu was at the top of the list.

Before we could expand on Kakuzu, a familiar ringtone sounded. It was my Mum's. All eyes were on her when she took her phone out to see the caller ID, but it was a 'Private Number'.

Mum glanced at Fugaku with wide eyes, a horrible thought in her head. The police force head nodded and knitted his brows together when she answered. Everyone was deathly silent.

"Hello?" Mum started off.

" _ **It's me."**_

Mum's eyes widened and she gulped thickly. Everyone could _just_ hear the conversation that was taking place, as Mum didn't put it on loudspeaker. That would have made it obvious that there were other people with her.

Judging from Mum's reaction, it was probably someone she didn't like. My initial thought was the kidnapper.

"Y-Yes…why did you call again?" Her voice shook slightly.

" _ **Don't be so scared. We're calling to say that the ransom is going to be delivered in 3 days from today."**_

"3 days…?! That's…!"

" _ **If you don't…Akira will die…slowly, and painfully. You don't want one of his fingers chopped off every day you wait longer, do you?"**_

Both my Mum's face and mine instantly paled. The image that it gave us was startling and disgusting, causing Goosebumps to spread on my skin.

" _ **Good, you understand."**_ The other person sounded like they were saying that with a smile. It unnerved me.

Mum gulped and delivered a weak, "Okay", and the line went dead.

The room was so silent that the clock's ticking was the only thing that sounded in our ears. Mum was staring at the ground, her hands clenched together so hard it was white.

"You heard them." Fugaku spoke up, his eagle eyes on Mum.

"We need to get…1 million… _we have to get 1 million!_ " Mum's voice got shriller and edgier and she spoke so fast that it was almost incomprehensible. She jolted up from her seat and began to make her way out of the place, muttering to herself the amount of ransom she had to give.

"Mum! Stop!" I stood up quickly and went after her, trying to grab her wrists. I understood what she was feeling; it was pretty much the same for me.

Heart was beating erratically, palms were sweaty, mind was on the brink of exhaustion, worry and stress levels were over the roof.

I managed to grab her wrist tightly, preventing her from escaping, but the next second I know, she had flipped me over onto the ground, a knee to my stomach to hold me in place.

"Mum?!" I gasp, feeling the sudden pain in my shoulder. There was a pressure on my stomach.

I could hear the others start to come over, quickly trying to pry Mum off me.

"Arisa, don't stop me." She spoke weakly, her voice shaking. She didn't even resist when Shisui and Kazuto pulled her off me. A hand was covering her eye, and she looked down.

It was hard to believe that the strong woman that she portrayed herself as suddenly came crashing down. It was hard to watch.

Itachi helped me off the ground and asked if I was okay, which I was. My shoulder was sore because she had twisted it in a weird way to pin me down, but all else was good.

 _I forget that she was once a fighter._

"Reiko, calm down." Fugaku's shoes thumped softly against the wooden boards. He stopped between my Mum and me, his arms crossed. "Getting 1 million now is impossible. All the banks are closed, and you can't withdraw that amount of money from an ATM."

Mum didn't even look at him. She kept her head down and didn't move. It was almost like she was a lifeless doll.

"We'll think up of something. We have 3 days maximum to." The Uchiha head looked to those who restrained Mum, "Bring her to the living room."

Shisui and Kazuto didn't even need to bring her there. She pulled her arms out of their grasps and immediately went to me, hugging me and caressing my hair.

"I'm sorry, Arisa, I'm sorry…" She repeated those words with such sadness and regret at what she had done. She held onto me for a very long moment. Shisui and Kazuto had gone back inside, while we just stood there. They started to talk amongst themselves.

"It's okay, Mum." I said gently. "We'll get through this. We've got lots of people that can help; that we can rely on."

"How can you keep such a level head?" Mum whispered. "I feel like crying."

"…I don't know. I'm not so sure myself…I feel like I'm on the brink of something; sadness, anger, I'm not even sure. I think the only thing keeping me level headed is because I have people around me that I trust." I hug my Mum back, "Or maybe I don't think this is real...maybe it's all just a bad dream, and when we wake up, it'll all be over."

 _But this wasn't a dream. It was reality._


	32. Step 32

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #32

* * *

Mum had calmed down a little by the time we went back to the lounge. The few minutes that had passed was pretty intense, and I didn't expect Mum to throw me to the ground.

"Tomorrow, we'll start to gather the funds." Fugaku filled Mum and I in on the details, telling us how they'll raise the million.

"Wait, Fugaku! I have a million. I'll be able to pay." Mum insisted, placing a hand on her sternum. She stared at him with a serious expression.

"This isn't just your problem. It's the police's as well, Reiko." The Uchiha head spoke sharply, "We plan on placing a tracking device in the money to track their movements."

"I can supply the money, you can add the device later."

"No. We will supply half the money, which have a mix of counterfeit notes that are tracking devices." Fugaku pulled out a note from his pocket, showing it to us, "This is the counterfeit note. It's basically identical to a real note, but it's a bit thicker." He handed it to us.

"Isn't that illegal?" I muttered.

"For the sole purpose of something like this happening, we have developed this." Fugaku turned his eye to me, narrowing. I gulped and nodded quickly. "The police are the only one who can use these. Nobody else knows about its existence."

"But what if it gets given to others? Money is exchanged for goods, right?" I raise a brow. I don't know whether or not this was a good idea from the police.

"Yes. This has a self-corrosion function." Fugaku told Shisui, who had the note at the time, to place it on the table. He did so. The father pulled out a remote from his other pocket and pressed a button. We looked at the note and saw that it slowly turned into a different colour, and parts of the note started to melt away, leaving a look that was similar to things burned by acid.

"Do you think that will work?" Mum questioned with a confused expression.

"…there is a high chance, as no information about this has been leaked." He replied.

Mum looked a little uneasy.

Suddenly, her ringtone sounded again.

"Again?" Shisui mumbled from beside me.

Mum looked at the number and her eyes widened. "What…?!" She gasped, showing the number to everyone. It clearly said "SWEETIE" with lots of heart emoticons. "Akira's calling me!" Her voice was a mixture of happy, relief, but also had a hint of fright.

"Akira?" The adults all expressed their confusion, awe and shock simultaneously.

Even the children were stunned.

"I'll answer it." Mum had tears at the corner of her eyes.

"It might not even be Akira at all." Mikoto spoke up, concern evident in her voice. Her expression of surprise had been completely switched to one of unease.

"Not Akira…?" Reiko's eyes went wide, and instantly understood. She pressed her lips together into a thin white line, before putting up a hand to say 'stop', and then pressing the receive call button. She pressed it to her ear. "Dear?" She tried to make her voice sound hopeful, but there was still a twinge of distress.

We all strained our ears to hear.

 ** _"_** ** _Unfortunately for you, this isn't Akira."_**

Mum's nearly dropped the phone when she heard that voice. Her lips quivered when she spoke, anger seething through her words that she wasn't able to display earlier. "Y-You…! Not only do you kidnap my husband, but you take his belongings too?! Why not just call from that private phone number of yours?! Did you have to make me hope that my husband will contact me, huh?!"

Everyone in the room was silent. We had just witnessed my Mum turn from a frightened puppy, to an angry pit bull. I absolutely forgot she had this temper. The stress must be getting to her.

There was silence for the next 5 seconds that followed. Then, a cackle of laughter from the other side.

 ** _"_** ** _Does it matter whether or not we call you with Akira or another phone? The result is just going to be the same."_** They chuckled again. **_"We are calling…to tell you to not have the police get involved with the ransom money. We know them…they've been doing some…illegal methods. Do you understand, Reiko?"_**

Everyone's eyes widened. Some of their faces paled. It was spelled out on everyone's faces: how did they find out?

 ** _"_** ** _If you don't want your daughter in danger too…you will do as I say."_**

"You…you…you bastard…!" Mum hissed.

 ** _"_** ** _Very good. You understand. Make sure you're there…at 5pm. But, bring your daughter with you."_**

Then, they hung up.

Mum stared at the phone in her hand, and from where I sat, it looked like she was about to crush it from the strength of her hand alone.

"So they'll target me if the police involve themselves with us for the ransom." I spoke up, feeling unnerved. "And they want me to go with Mum to deliver it…" I shivered unconsciously at the thought. There was no way to determine what would happen at the location where they wanted us to deliver the ransom.

It was one thing that they knew about me, and it was another that they'd target me if we don't do as they say. Considering the fact that they kidnapped my Dad and have power beyond the police, it wouldn't be above them abuse that power and sweep everything here under the rug, just like how they're assumed to have done based on rumours.

"To bring Arisa…?" Mum's voice sounded dry and hoarse, like she had been screaming all night, even if she was completely fine before. "Why would they want to bring Arisa…?" She whispered to herself. The phone slid out of her hand and hit her lap, before hitting the ground. Something seemed to click in her mind, and she whipped her head to face Fugaku, looking distraught. "Fugaku! Please, please…please! Protect Arisa! If anything happens to her…if anything were to happen to her…!" She couldn't even finish her sentence. Tears had poured uncontrollably from her eyes and she sobbed loudly, hiding her face.

My toes curled and I tensed. I didn't like this feeling. The feeling of unease, uncertainty, about what was going to happen. It wasn't something that I usually felt, and in my mind, it registered as _dangerous._

I didn't even realise I had broken out in cold sweat.

"I…I'll be fine, Mum." I found myself saying. My smile was fake, to try and reassure her, and myself. But deep down, I knew I was only trying to fool myself. "I learnt martial arts and I think I'm pretty strong."

"NO, YOU'RE NOT!" Mum shrieked.

I jumped in my seat, not expecting her to lash out at me like that.

"Mum…?"

"No…no, you're not strong. You can't go against them. You _can't._ " She muttered other things under her breath and clutched at her hair.

Mikoto gestured for me to move away from the seat next to my Mum, and she replaced me, consoling the woman.

I sat squashed up next to Shisui in Mikoto's previous seat.

"Itachi will watch over you like before." Fugaku decided. "Shisui has other priorities."

His words plucked at a chord. I blinked a few times, and turned to the one to my side. He saw me staring and flicked me in the forehead, smiling. "It'll be fine. Sorry I can't be there with you."

"It's okay." I say slowly, feeling a pang of disappointment. I glanced at my Mum. She had calmed down a notch and was blowing her nose with a tissue. Her eyes were red and puffy. Akimi had gone over to comfort her too.

I didn't know Shisui was watching me the whole time, until I stole a glance to the side. He had an unreadable expression, as if he were deep in thought, but also watching my movements.

"Shisui?"

"…it's nothing." Partnered with that was his usual smile.

The door bell rung around this time. I glanced at the time. It was around 8 to 9 at night. Who would it be at this hour?

Without a word, Kazuto went to open the door. When he returned, he had a pair of familiar faces with him.

Minato and Kushina smiled and bowed their heads slightly in greeting to the people in the lounge.

"Good evening, everyone."


	33. Step 33

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #33

* * *

 _Minato and Kushina? What were they doing here?_

"Sorry we're a little late," The blonde father rubbed the back of his neck and sent Fugaku an apologetic smile, "I had to finish off some paperwork."

"I haven't seen all your faces in a while." Kushina commented, looking around the room. Her eyes landed on me, and I swear I saw a glint in her eye, as well as a non-existent evil smile. My expression showed only confusion when she smiled at me as if nothing happened.

"It's been a long time, Kushina. Why don't the both of you sit down?" Mikoto stood up to get some chairs. When she came back, she set them down for the newly arrived couple to sit on.

Mikoto sat back down and she looked at her husband, then nodded. She turned to the blonde and red head, "I'll fill you in." And she did that for the next 10 minutes.

Once she was done, Kushina and Minato both had their thinking expressions on.

 _Minato's part of the political world just like Kakuzu is. Maybe Fugaku brought him in because of that?_

I glance around, trying to ascertain the atmosphere. It wasn't as tense as before, but I feel like it'll become tenser in the next few moments. Minato probably had some information he was willing to share with us. At least, that's why I think he came.

"Indeed, Kakuzu is affiliated with Arrow. But so are a few other politicians. The main ones are probably just Kakuzu, and the current head of Arrow, Hanzo." Minato was incredibly straight to the point and informative, but that was expected.

"Hanzo, as in the CEO?" I questioned.

The blonde man nodded. "He's also in politics."

"I don't want to sound too nosey, but can you tell us more?" I requested. I added, "About Kakuzu too, please."

"That's fine." He smiled. It immediately faded and he started talking in a light, but serious tone. "Like your mother told you, Kakuzu is a politician. He's been in it for many years, but what he does whilst under the guise of being a politician is questionable. There is absolutely no doubt that he is involved in Arrow and its seniors, Orochimaru and Hanzo. They've been seen together on many different occasions."

"What if they were just friends?" Shisui piped up. "Are you sure the media isn't warping things out of proportion like they usually do?"

Minato's blues met Shisui's onyx. It was as if there was a hidden meaning behind those words, and that's what triggered something of a knowing look.

"…this time, there is some truth to what the media has said." Minato confided. "It has been exaggerated, but sources close to me confirmed that they're undeniably involved with projects together."

"Hm…" Shisui looked deep in thought.

"Arisa, you should go—ah," Fugaku stopped himself short, a slight look of surprise on his face as if he came to realise something. I look at him to see where he was going with this, but he had turned to face his wife. "Should they stay at ours?"

"Sure." Mikoto agreed.

"Why not let them stay here?" Shisui leaned on his knee, as if he was casually asking a question. "After all, they're already here, aren't they?"

"It doesn't matter as long as they stay somewhere besides their house." Fugaku turned to me, "Arisa, you decide."

I'm suddenly forced awake and put into a position where I have to give an answer within 5 seconds. I'm pretty sure we're just deciding on where Mum and I stay for the while, so that it'll be easier for them to do whatever they needed to do.

So, Itachi's or Shisui's?

There's no doubt about it.

"I'll go with Shisui." I clap my hands together to signify the end of my decision. The reason that I wanted to stay here was because of Fugaku. I don't want him breathing down my neck for various reasons. He scares me.

"Sweet, I'll have a roommate now!" The male beside me hooked an arm around my shoulder for a side hug, thoroughly crushing me in the process.

"Shisui, they're going to be in the guest room." Akimi sweat dropped at her son.

"Housemates then!"

"Let…go…of me!" I try to push him off and nearly get out of his grip, but he somehow forced me to stay there. I gave up. He'll let go eventually.

"Let go of her Shisui. Itachi, go with Arisa to get her stuff from her house." Fugaku ordered.

Without a word, Itachi stood up and gestured me to come with him. Shisui let go and pouted childishly.

"My roommate!"

"She's not your roommate."

"Housemate!" I swear his voice echoed like in this movies where they show the scenery after someone starts screaming or wailing and their voice fades into the distance.

"How long do you think I have to stay at Shisui's?" I asked Itachi. He and I were already out of the house, and walking towards my own. He seemed to be on guard, as always.

"Probably until everything settles down and the case is solved." Itachi replied after a moment of thinking. He glanced at me for a lingering moment, before looking ahead of him, but head slightly inclined towards the ground.

It looked like he wanted to ask me something, but didn't want to say it? Well, he'll get his answer.

"Say, you look like you wanted to ask me about something." I commented, eyeing the teen.

He glanced at me. "Yes."

"Well, shoot. I'm not going to bite your head off, you know."

"I wanted to ask if you were alright."

His question slash statement honestly surprised me. I didn't think that Itachi would actually ask something so…caring. It warmed my heart a little. He was actually worried about my wellbeing!

"…did I say something weird?" The Uchiha had a slightly worried expression as he looked at me. I get why, because I didn't reply for like a minute.

"Oh, sorry, sorry. I was surprised at your question. I didn't think you'd ask something like that, honestly." I laughed a little. "But yes, I'm…doing a lot better. It's a little hard to come to grips with the situation right now, and it still all feels unnatural and just…strange, but I think I'm coping better…than before, I guess. Thanks for asking, Itachi!" I grin at him and put up the V sign to further try to convince him that I was fine.

He had that normal expression on his face that he always wore, but it had remnants of the look that he gave his brother, the 'oh-you're-so-silly' expression.

Let me just say: I think he thinks that I look like an idiot.

Oh well.

Going back into the house was a bit strange. It's only been like, what, a day, and it almost feels foreign to me. But it's also very familiar, but very empty, and vast.

"I'll come up with you." Itachi followed me up the stairs. I gave a nod which he probably didn't see, and went into my room to start packing my stuff for the next few days.

"I can't forget mini Shisui!" I see the handmade toy on my bed and grab it, shoving it into the suitcase. "If this house burns down this is probably the thing I'll grab first." I laugh at myself for wanting to save something of sentimental value and not the most expensive thing.

"Shisui made it for you." Itachi looked around my room, "Is that all?"

"For my room, yes. I still need to do my Mum's room. Do you think I should get any of Dad's valuables?" I enquire.

"If it has any sort of value to the case, then okay." Itachi went over to my desk and looked at the pictures that I'd put into frames. "Why not bring these, too?"

He showed the three of them to me. One of them was of my family; one was of Shisui, Itachi and Sasuke (with Shikamaru photobombing it in the distance); the last was of Konan, Yahiko, Nagato, Shisui, with a small photo of Yuko in the corner as a constant reminder that he actually somehow became a friend.

I was silent for a moment, thinking of why and why I shouldn't bring them. In the end, I bring them anyway.

"Just in case this house burns down or something." I shrug and place them carefully into the case. I zip it up, "Well, I'm _really_ done now. I'm going to drag this out into the hallway, so then we'll go to Mum's room after."

When I manage to roll the suitcase into the hallway, I saw a flash of red. It was so quick that I thought I was hallucinating, but I definitely saw red.

"Red?" I question with a puzzled face. I check my hair and see that my hair definitely wasn't red; see if I had dropped something red, which I hadn't; see if anything had rolled by that was red, which didn't; see if the window was open, which wasn't.

"Okay…?" I look around the hallway once more and shrug, "Must have been a bird." I leave my suitcase there and walk into my parents' room to start packing.

When I turned to see that Itachi hadn't followed me, I peered out back into the hallway, "Itachi?" He was standing there looking around the hallway, as if he was curious about its structure and wall colour.

He was silent for a moment before going into the room, "It's nothing. Have you finished packing?"

I shake my head, "Nope. I just started. You okay, Itachi? You seem distracted. Is the hallway that attractive?" I laugh at my own joke, but realise it was dumb so I immediately shut up.

"It's…clean. I was checking if the bird was still there." Itachi sat on the bed and watched me pack.

"So you just wanted to see the bird? Haven't you seen red birds before?" I arched a brow at him, momentarily pausing my packing.

"I have. If it couldn't get out then I'd have helped it." The Uchiha propped his elbows on his knees.

"It's okay, birds are smarter than you think." I mused.

"…it seems they are. Red birds, anyway."


	34. Step 34

By the time we got back to Shisui's house, it was around 10. When we entered, the adults were still talking amongst themselves, but at a quieter tone of voice.

Itachi headed over to his father and whispered something into his ear, while my eyes scanned around to see the expressions of everybody. As expected, they were serious and attentive, somewhat like they were before.

"Arisa, why don't you take a bath first?" Akimi got out of her seat and made her way towards me (I was still standing), gently pushing my shoulder towards the stairs. "Come on, it's been a long day."

I look at the woman for a quick moment before glancing into the living room. They were still talking, but for a split second, Shisui looked over. We locked eyes and he gave me a small smile and a wave before his Mum asked for my attention.

"Coming…" My voice trailed off when I went up the stairs, following after the woman.

"We have a lot of bath bombs here, so take your pick." Akimi showed me where the bath bombs were kept, "We keep a lot because I like to take baths."

"So it's just you, huh?" I dig through the pile and pick one that I liked the look of.

"Shisui and Kazuto do take baths once in a while, but I like to take them more." Akimi grinned and prepared the water.

"Uh…okay." I didn't really take baths, so this will be a new thing for me. "Wouldn't it be faster to take a shower instead?"

"I think it's better to take a bath, don't you think so too?" Akimi smiled at me, but that made me unnerved. It felt like there was something she wanted me to understand, but she wasn't going to say what.

"I…I guess so…" I managed to say.

"Good!" She brightened up and turned the bath faucet off. "Here, your bath's ready. There's a clock over there," She pointed to the clock above the bath, "Just take about half an hour or so and you'll feel a lot better. If you need anything, just call us."

"Okay." I nodded once. Akimi left the bathroom to go back downstairs. I stared at the bath for a moment, seeing the pastel colours from the bath bomb swirl around in colourful patterns.

 _I guess I'll take a bath then._

* * *

"How long has it been?" I questioned myself aloud. It felt like an eternity since I've been in the bath. I wished I remembered to bring my laptop to watch something…

"Half an hour already?" I stare at the clock. I sigh to myself, resting my elbow against the side of the bath.

To be honest, during this half hour, I wasn't really thinking of anything. I just kind of stared at the wall. I didn't know not thinking about anything was time consuming. But now that I'm thinking about stuff again, the first thing that came to mind was Akimi. Her smile from before lingered in my mind, and refused to disappear.

"Urgh…it's like she wanted me to not be down there." I muttered to myself. I pause for a moment, before a long 'oh' came from my mouth.

That was probably it. She didn't want me downstairs with everybody. That would mean that they were discussing something very important that didn't involve me. But what?

"That's just speculation though…" I sigh through my nose.

 _But wouldn't they still be discussing Dad's situation? Were they going through a plan? They're police…does that mean they intend to keep me in the dark?_

Knowing that all these questions were going to get by unanswered, I dismiss them from my thoughts.

 _I'll find out later anyway._

Just as I get out of the bath, a knock sounded on the door.

"Yes?" I called out, a little surprised. I wrapped a towel around myself.

"You done yet?" It was Shisui.

"Ah, just about. Let me put some clothes on…"

When I was done, I drained the bath water and cleaned it up a little. I open the door and see that Shisui was still outside, but he was checking something on his phone. When he saw the door open, he looked up and put his phone away.

"Something wrong?" I tilt my head slightly.

"The chat downstairs finished up just then." Shisui looked down the stairs.

"I see…anything new?" I questioned. "Where are Minato and Kushina?"

"They went home." Shi-chan paused, "We just exchanged information, that's all."

"I see." I nodded slowly.

 _So he has no intention of telling me._

"You should get your Mum to take a bath, too." Shisui mentioned. "She's downstairs."

"Alright, thanks." I head down and found her almost immediately.

"Mum." I called. She turned around. She was pale, much more than before. "Mum, are you okay?" I grab her hands and hold onto them as if she was going to break.

"I'm fine, honey." She smiled at me.

I stare at her face for a long moment. She looked like she had aged a lot in these last few days. This situation was even more taxing on her than me. I gently pulled her with me. She got up from the sofa and followed me up the stairs.

"Take a bath, Mum. You'll feel a little better after it."

Shisui was still outside the bathroom, leaning on the staircase railing. He was checking his phone again, and looked up momentarily when I led Mum into the bathroom to prepare her bath.

"Wait, Shisui, how do you do the bath?" I realised I had no idea why and laughed a little at myself.

The male came in and did it all for us, telling me the instructions on how to do so. He put a random bath bomb in and ushered me out with him, telling me to get some clothes and a towel for my Mum.

When Mum got everything she needed, she closed the door on us.

"She's really tired." Shisui commented quietly.

"Yeah. She's really stressed at the moment." I mumble.

I could feel Shisui's eyes on me the whole time. He pulled me into an arm hug, dragging me with him to wherever he was going.

"Shi-chan, what are you doing?" I asked nonchalantly, going along with him.

"It's not time to sleep yet, so tell me about you and what happened these few years." Shisui grinned.

"Didn't I tell you earlier today?" I deadpanned.

"Yeah, but that was just a gist of it. I want to know more." He opened a door and went inside. The minute I look around I realise it's his room. It was just as spacious as the guest room. It was pretty clean, too. But then again, he hadn't been there in like 3 years.

"Ah, this brings back memories." Shisui let go of me and headed over to his bed, flopping onto it on his back. "I MISS THIS BED!" He rolled onto his stomach and hugged the thing.

I stood there on the side, shaking my head with a smile. He was so childish, but I do like that side of him. It's cute.

I went over and dragged his desk chair to the end of the bed, sitting on it. Shisui sat up. He crossed his legs and smiled at me.

"So, what's your relationship with Yuko?"

"Well that was quick and blunt." I muttered, "Is _that_ what you want to find out?"

"Just one of the many questions." Shisui shrugged. "He seems really close to you but all you do is push him away." He laughed a little.

"Well…I don't hate him or anything, but he was a real flirt and really touchy-feely when I first met him. It was basically right after you went off to Europe." I started, reminiscing about that time. "It didn't really help much that he had a whole hoard of fangirls behind him. He's really popular." I laugh a little, "Those fangirls would give Konan and me glares, but they couldn't really do anything since Konan was in a relationship with Yahiko, and I couldn't care less about him."

"I'm surprised they didn't come up to you and tell you off for being mean to Yuko." Shisui commented.

"Oh, they did."

"Eh, what did they say?"

"Well, just like you just said. They came up and told me off for being mean to him. It was such a bother, and I told them off for it. I said: 'it's better than flirting with him, right?' They got kind of angry actually, telling me to stay away from him. I'm telling you, these were the hard-core fangirls. The scary ones that would do anything for him. I told them that even if I didn't want him around, he'd pop up anyway. I told them I didn't have any interest in him and I'd root for them if any of them make a move on him."

"Woah…" Shisui looked like he couldn't decide between a laugh or a strained chuckle.

"I've gotten pretty used to him now, so all good." I wave my hand dismissively.

Shisui nodded slowly. "Speaking of making moves on people, have you dated?" Shisui grabbed a pillow and lay on his stomach.

"Me? Dating?" I blink a couple of times and take a long pause, trying to think of an answer. Shisui looked really curious, watching me with a kind of attention like a dog and its owner.

That's not a good thing.

"Uh…" I laugh a little, rubbing my neck, "…no."

"No?" Shisui's expression was a look of surprise and shock mixed together in one, but then it softened and he looked happy.

"Why do you look so happy?" I give him a funny look, "What if I grow old and I still haven't dated? I'll be an old woman living with 100 cats!"

"Trust me, I don't think that'll happen." Shisui laughed.

"But all the guys that confess…I don't think of them that way." I lean my elbow on the chair and place my cheek on my palm.

"Guys confessed to you? Who?!" I don't know if Shisui was overly excited or just simply curious.

"Only 3. One a year, actually." I laugh a little. "They're from our class, from before you left. I had classes with some of them."

"So, did they just come up to you and ask you out?" Shisui questioned.

"Oh! On second thought, they were all people from sports clubs that Yahiko was on." I clap my hands together. "Ah, yeah, they did. They told me after I went to watch their games. We went somewhere alone and then they just asked me out of the blue. Didn't know they thought that way, actually. I thought they were just really friendly and had good sportsmanship."

Shisui looked like he didn't know what to say at that moment. He laughed a little robotically and nodded his head slightly. "So they're all from sports clubs…"

"Why are you smiling?" I asked.

"I was just thinking about who they were." Shisui shrugged.

"You were in all the same sports clubs as them." I pointed out.

"Yeah, but I was in Europe the whole time, so I don't know who asked you out. I want to see who did." Shisui grinned. "And maybe tell them that they have to get through me before getting to you."

"Calm down, Shi-chan!" I laughed, "I've already rejected them, so you don't need to do that."

"You can't be so sure." Shisui sang with a shrug.

"Okay, since you asked me, I'll ask you. Have _you_ dated?" I asked curiously. I'm going to bet money that he did. I heard Europe had a lot of beautiful people.

"Me? No way." Shisui shook his head.

…huh?

"Huh…?" I looked at him completely dumbfounded. I did _not_ see this coming. "Any confessions, then?" Shisui looked like he was about to laugh at my face.

"Hm, let's just say that that's better off not being answered." Shisui smiled at me.

"What?! Why not? I told you mine, didn't I?" I pouted.

"Yeah, but…I'll tell you one day. I promise." Shisui held out his pinkie. I sighed and reached over to lock my pinkie with his.

"Fine. Promise."

I go back to the confines of the chair. "So, why didn't you decide to date? Same reason as me?"

"A little bit."

"A little? What's that supposed to mean?"

"I did have another reason."

"Oooh! Tell me!"

"You sound way too excited for this…" Shisui sweat dropped. "The reason is…well, there's a person that I've liked for a really long time, so…"

"Oooh!" I clapped my hands together quickly, "Who? Who? Who? Who? Who?!"

Shisui looked completely taken aback by my excitement and didn't look like he knew how to respond.

"Uh…" He buried his face into his pillow, avoiding all eye contact. "I'm nwot tellim wu. (I'm not telling you)"

"Eh, why not?" I pout, crossing my arms. "This is the first time you've ever told me you were crushing on someone! Come on, tell me!" I whine, poking his head.

"No…" He said weakly. His head was still buried into his pillow.

I grumble and give up, knowing that he won't give in. "Fine, then! But you have to tell me sometime! Promise me! I won't judge you!" I stick my pinkie out.

After a moment, Shisui lifted his head and wrapped his pinkie around mine.

"Fine."

"That's my boy." I mimic Fugaku and ruffle Shisui's slightly curly hair. "I can't wait to find out!"

Shisui sighed and supported his upper body with his arms. "Sure, sure. You'll be in for a treat."

"Anyway, on a side note, you said that you had a lot of questions. What were the other ones?" I asked. I felt a yawn coming on.

"Maybe you should go sleep, instead."

"Yeah, but…"

"I don't have any more questions. For now, anyway."

"Oh…"

"If you want to stay with me we can be roommates!" Shisui joked, grinning.

"Sorry, but I have to be there with my Mum." I stand up and pat his shoulder, "Well, I'll go sleep now. Goodnight, Shi-chan."

"Night."

* * *

Once I was out of his room, I made my way to the one I'd be staying in.

 _Damn. I never found out who it was. Shisui said he had liked her for a long time…wait a minute…is it Konan?! Wait, no, that can't be…because if it was her, then he'd know that it was probably going to be Yahiko and Konan the whole way, and he supported that. Hm…was it somebody that I don't know? He wasn't telling me so I'm going to assume so…_

My hands clench around the door handle to the room I was supposed to stay in. I could see my knuckles going white – but for what purpose?

Why did I want to find out so badly?

I shake my head of such thoughts.

 _No, I have to focus on Dad and the kidnapping right now. There's no time to think about this, because Shisui's going to tell me anyway. The kidnapping case has more things that I don't know, so I have to think about that._

I shake my head again.

 _Why can't I just think of nothing like I did when I was taking a bath? Things would be so much easier since I'll be a potato._

I go into the room and see that Mum was already sleeping. I see the time, and it was a little past 11.

I prepare myself for bed and look out the window and into the sky. The moon was the colour of blood, which was a pretty rare sight to see.

"What a pretty moon. Goodnight."


	35. Step 35

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #35

* * *

The following day was spent gathering the ransom money. The police were helping out with gathering the funds; but they're all Mum's funds since she had the money.

I'm actually kind of worried about our financial situation now. But since Dad's been kidnapped, it can't really be helped. We can only rebuild from there, from when we get him back.

Mum's a lot more level headed than she was before – it was a long and shaky day yesterday, and frankly, it felt more like a week's worth of stress than a whole day. Actually, not a week, probably half a year.

Right now, Itachi and I are at the dojo. We were doing some training since there was nothing to do in the house, and I needed to vent out on something, or else I'd probably go insane.

…not really, but there seriously was nothing to do.

Mum was with Akimi and Mikoto in the house, going through a lot of things with Kazuto, Fugaku and Shisui, who were going to and from the station and the house to get things in order.

"How long will this take?" I threw a kick at the punching bag, then another one so that it rebounded off it.

"What do you mean?" Itachi was sitting down, watching me. He was actually eating some dango that Mikoto made for him for today.

"I mean this kidnapping case and all." I steady the bag and throw a few punches at it.

"It will be over when we get your father back." Itachi pulled off a round dango from the stick, chewing on it slowly and thoughtfully. "But we don't know whether the kidnappers will oblige with what they've set out."

"What?!" I inhale sharply and whip around to face the teenager, who sat there nonchalantly eating his favourite sweet.

"I'm hoping we get your father back, but we're treading in dangerous water here." Itachi ate the last of his dango and threw the sticks in the bin.

He had stopped at the bin for a long while, like he was looking at something.

"Itachi? What's up?" I call.

Itachi turns to me and then back to what he was looking at before. "I'm sorry, but this place is closed right now."

"Itachi? Who are you talking to?" I didn't bother taking the boxing gloves off when I went to where Itachi stood.

When I got over to where he was, I saw that someone was actually there, peering inside the dojo with the door half open. They had a mop of red hair and half lidded brown eyes that were very pretty, and the most bored expression on his face. He was wearing a baggy hoodie and jeans with a pair of flip flops.

"Closed?" The red head questioned, looking around the place. His voice was kind of deep, which surprised me. He didn't sound as if he was going to have a deeper voice; I honestly thought it was going to be a lot higher than that. After all, he looks pretty young.

"Yes, it's closed. Did you want to book an appointment or a class? I can help with that if you really want to book." I offered, taking off the boxing gloves.

The red head look over to me and stared for a long while, before he tilted his head slightly to the side, "Are you a student here?"

I was a little taken aback by his sudden question and nodded. "I'm the daughter of the owner, so I handle some reception things too. But technically yes, I'm a student."

The red head nodded slowly to himself as if he were listening to a slow tempo song. He stopped and glanced at Itachi and me, "Can I watch you two?"

"Watch us?" That was a strange thing for me to hear, but it's not that people who wanted to become students didn't watch or anything, but it was strange hearing it come straight from a potential student.

I was a bit unsure, considering the dojo _is_ closed, and that Itachi and I were really just here to pass the time.

I glance over at him and see that he was looking at the red head with an unwavering expression, but also one that it looked like he was thinking of something.

"Uh…I guess you could, but I don't think you can stay for too long." I place my boxing gloves back on.

"That's fine."

Okay, this was really weird. I don't know what he wants to watch. "Uh…what do you want to watch, um…?" I didn't know his name so I had to blank it out.

"Sasori." The red head answered. "How about a spar between you two?"

"O-oh, okay." I turn to Itachi and he looks at me with an unreadable expression.

"You can go first." Itachi murmurs to me. He walked opposite to me so that we were standing a few metres apart.

"Wait, do I even need boxing gloves for this?" I shake my head and take off the gloves again, throwing them somewhere to the side. "Okay, here I come!"

I charge at the Uchiha, throwing some punches first. Itachi either blocked or dodged all of them, which really irked me. Since sparring with somebody doesn't give you too much time to think, I had to literally throw out all I can give. And since it was Itachi that I was up against, I can probably go all out and he'd have no problem defeating me.

I try to trip him, but he jumps up and back, landing perfectly on his two feet, like those gymnasts at the Olympics. He'd score a perfect 100% if he did it.

Okay, enough flattering the guy.

"Are you just dodging?" I asked him with disbelief.

"I think I should get going now." Sasori stood up from his spot, staring at his watch. He glanced at both of us before leaving his eyes on me, "I might come back when this place opens again. It looks fun to learn martial arts." A small smirk caught my eye, "Thanks for the show." And he left.

"What?" I stare after the red head with narrowed eyes, unsure of what just happened.

In that time period that I was just staring at the door, Itachi had already gone and put his shoes on, "Let's go back to the house."

"What! Wait for me!" I quickly go and tidy everything that I had messed, before putting on my own shoes, closing up the dojo and going out to meet a patiently waiting Itachi. "You're too quick…" I sigh to myself and stretch my arms up high. "Alright, let's go back then."

Back at the house, those from the police station were there, ready to head back out to continue whatever they were doing. They left me in the dark, so I don't know anything. Though, I think Itachi knows but he won't tell me anything.

When we went in, Itachi went straight to Fugaku and said something really quietly. I stared at them intently when I came in, wondering what they were talking about.

Sometimes I wished that I could read lips.

I felt a hand go on my shoulder, and turned over my shoulder to see who it was. It was just Shisui.

"Hey." He said with a smile. He let his hand fall back to his side.

"How's the investigation holding up?" I question, turning around.

"For now, it's going well." The Uchiha glanced at Fugaku and Itachi before his eyes went back to me.

"So you're not going to tell me much, are you?" I laugh bitterly.

"Sorry." Shisui held an apologetic expression, placing a hand on my head. "It's confidential, so I can't say much more than that."

"I know…" I let out a long sigh and look to the side.

"Hey, cheer up, won't you?" Shisui pinched both my cheeks, pulling outwards.

I made an angry face, even though I wasn't angry, and glared at him. I don't know why, but Shisui burst out in laughter, so much that he needed to support himself on the wall.

I didn't understand what was so funny, but I let it slide. I was way too tired today. It was tiring to just think, to do anything.

"Sorry, sorry." Shisui wiped a tear from his eye.

"Is it so funny that you have to cry from laughing so much?" I poked his chest multiple times.

"But it was so funny—" And cue his second round of laughter.

"Shisui, calm down." Fugaku had miraculously appeared next to me, scaring the living daylights out of me.

Shisui held his stomach as he turned back around, trying to wipe that grin off his face.

Was my face that funny?

"We have to get back to the station. You can talk to her later." The police head opened the door, heading out. I saw Itachi come up beside me, watching his Dad go out.

Shisui glanced over his shoulder to his uncle, then turned back to where Itachi and I stood. He gave us a wave before taking a step out the door, "I'll see you guys later."

"Alright. Take care." I wave bye to him with a small smile.

"Bye." Itachi said.

And Shisui was gone.

Once the door closed, Itachi turned to me, "Let's talk privately upstairs. Father gave me some details to give to you."

 _Details?_ I thought with surprise. I nodded and we headed upstairs to my temporary room.

"Today's the first day of a total of 3 days." Itachi spoke quietly, "On the third day, Aunt Reiko and you will deliver the ransom."

I nodded slowly.

"I recall it being delivered at 5pm at the abandoned warehouse by the docks." Itachi glanced to the side before back at me.

His lips started to move as I listened closely. My eyes widened at what he was saying, not comprehending that they would do this.

"Why…?" I questioned with an unreadable expression. "Do you _realise_ what would _happen_ if they did that?!"

The strain in my voice didn't affect Itachi in the slightest. He looked me in the eye without a shred of guilt.

"There won't be any other way."


	36. Step 36

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #36

* * *

The day of the delivery came agonisingly slowly.

I rubbed my eyes and temples, trying to calm down. I glanced over at Mum, who sat on the side, holding the briefcase of money. I couldn't believe that 1 million was in that. And I can't believe we're going to be giving it away. But it's for a good cause so all good.

GOOD CAUSE MY ASS.

"Have some coffee." Shisui handed me a steaming cup of coffee, which I looked at him strangely for.

"Why?" I don't even drink coffee.

"It's matcha latte. Your favourite." He waved it in front of my face. Well, not really waved but kind of just showed me.

"I was going to say…" I took the cup from him and took a sip from it. The only coffee that I liked to drink was matcha latte. And it was because of the matcha that I liked it, anyway. Coffee itself I'm not too much of a fan of.

"There's only a few hours before we have to go." Shisui commented, glancing at the clock. It was the afternoon, just after 1. Everyone was calm, but it was pretty obvious that they were freaking out inside.

I let a sigh escape my lips. Itachi's words came back to haunt me. I really couldn't believe that they were going to go through with it, considering the possibility of danger.

"You hanging in there?" The Uchiha questioned, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"…I guess?" I was also questioning myself. I didn't know what to feel. Today was the day, but, I didn't feel anything. Maybe I was just feeling numb because I'm trying to stay sane, but I don't know.

Shisui looked at me with a worried expression, but then leaned back on the sofa, stretching his arms out. He stared at the ceiling. "Well, this is quite an eventful way to start my time back at home."

I just look at him with a confused expression.

Seeing the look on my face, Shisui just chuckled. "I came back on the day you found out your Dad was being held for ransom." He reminded.

"Oh…I…" I sighed again. The only thing I've been doing lately is sighing. "I guess that's a bad way to start, yeah? Talk about bad timing…"

"There's no helping it. He was already taken a few days before I came back anyway." Shisui leaned forward, taking the coffee out of my hands and taking a drink.

I didn't even complain, I was just so out of it. This situation reminds me of the calm before a storm. I just hope the storm isn't too stormy.

"What are we going to do after we get Dad?" I asked.

"We're going to have to interrogate him after he goes to hospital for a check-up." Shisui paused, "But we don't know whether or not he's in danger. We have no evidence other than the use of his cell phone; we don't know if he's actually injured."

"…I guess that's true." I lean my arms on my knees, cupping the sides of my face. "I hope Dad's alright."

"I hope so too." Shisui placed the coffee onto the table and threw an arm around my shoulders, bringing me closer to him. "It'll be fine! Don't worry too much about it."

I eye him and then elbow the side of his ribs, making him wince and let out a silent 'ow'. "What are you acting all casual for? You're one of the guys blowing the place up."

"We've got that under control." Shisui said after a moment. With the arm that he placed around my shoulders, he placed it on my head, ruffling it. I blow a stray strand of hair away from my face.

"I sure hope you guys do." I muttered, taking the latte and drinking some.

Yup. The plan that Itachi told me about a day or so ago was to blow the abandoned warehouse up. They had already put the explosives in place around the area, and in places were people couldn't find it unless they looked super hard.

Why?

Well, that's because, according to the police, it's highly unlikely that the other person involved in the kidnapping – so the kidnapper – would not know that the police is also involved. They couldn't toy with the money so now they're toying with the place where we're supposed to meet. They want to take the person down.

I'm not sure that blowing the place up will do any good though.

No, they're not blowing it up when we're inside. That would just be dumb. They were going to do it after the exchange, in hopes of getting the kidnapper or someone related. They even said that there was a chance that the kidnapper wouldn't even be there, and some other stuff.

"What if Dad was there and you guys blow him up?" I look at Shisui with a concerned expression.

"Wouldn't that be inconvenient for both sides?" Shisui took the matcha from me and drank from it, looking at the green coffee.

I didn't even have anything to say back, since if put together, it was quite true. It would be the most inconvenient from the kidnapper's side, since Dad was a hostage they could use.

In the end, I sigh. I hug my knees and just sit there, listening to the ticking of the clock, waiting for the hours to pass until the time we were to go to the warehouse.

"Your mother and you will go on first, so we'll be in the surrounding area, but not so close that they'll see us." Shisui stood up and went to the kitchen, putting the empty cup away. He came back with a bowl of fruit, holding 2 forks. He handed one to me, urging me to eat some peaches that Mikoto prepared. "So when we're about a few kilometres away from the place, you and your Mum will be alone to act as you need to. I'm pretty sure Dad's prepared a transmitter of some sort to attach to either you or Auntie, and that'll give us an indication of when to detonate."

"I feel like we're taking a big risk here…" I mumbled. I don't know whether to feel threatened or not by this development.

"I'm sure we'll be fine." Shisui had a smile on his face, but it was one that somewhat reassured me. It was the type of smile where they knew what they were doing.

"…I'll trust in you." I suck in the insides of my cheeks, "You better damn well do your job right."

Shisui only grinned, "Glad that you do."


	37. Step 37

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #37

* * *

On our way to the warehouse, it was pretty much silent. We had taken one of the personal cars of someone from the police force (I think it was one of Fugaku's cars, but hell if I know). It wasn't too long of a drive, but it felt 5 times longer than it should have.

 _Man…I just want to get this over with,_ I stared out the window, seeing the passing blur of buildings. It wasn't exactly the best view, but hey, it was better staring at people's resting bitch faces.

I was honestly still conflicted at what they were going to do. I don't want them to just randomly blow up a place. Plus, there's not too much merit and it'll attract too much attention.

 _Wait a moment. Who even came up with that idea?_ I thought for a brief moment, memory going back to when Itachi told me about the plan. _I recall him saying that his Father was the one who wanted to inform me._

 _Does that mean he was the one who initiated it?_

I pause my thoughts for a moment.

 _I think I might be on to something. Why would Fugaku go through such a risky tactic? This doesn't seem like him and it's just too…different from how I know he works._

Before I could continue my thoughts, the car came to a halt, and we were told that we had arrived.

"You'll need to walk there yourselves." The police officer in disguise nodded to us.

"Thank you." Mum nodded her head a little and got out of the car. I followed her out and watched as the man drove away.

 _Right, I forgot that we were supposed to walk a couple of kilometres to reach the place to avoid suspicion._

Mum and I didn't talk much when we walked there. We took turns holding the briefcase of money until we eventually reached the place.

As the kidnapper said, it was definitely an abandoned building. It looked rugged, old, partially destroyed. Some of the windows were broken, and the remaining ones that weren't broken, were smeared with dirt or had graffiti on them.

Mum and I stopped in our steps, taking in a deep breath each. My body had suddenly tensed up, as if sensing incoming danger. I was the one holding the suitcase this time, and I wasn't sure that I wanted to go inside the building.

I also had the transmitter on my self, so I kind of _had_ to go in so that the others could hear what kind of conversations were being brought up between the kidnapper and us.

 _Geez, why did they have to attach it to me?_

"It's time." Mum had just checked her watch.

As she did so, a cold breeze caused a shiver to go down my spine and Goosebumps to form on my skin. Well, I'm not entirely sure if it was the coldness itself, or if I was just frightened by the prospect of having to go inside that building and go through with this trade.

I gulped thickly. I stood rigidly in place, hoping that I could take the way back rather than go in. Like, I did want to save my Dad, but the abandoned place was scarier than I thought it'd be. And not to mention the kidnapper might be there, _and_ the police were going to detonate the place when we're done.

"Let's go, Arisa." Mum walked forward first. She had a determined look in her eyes and an edge to her voice. It seemed she was pretty intent on getting Dad back, as well as…possibly beating the shit out of the kidnapper.

Kidnapper, I'd watch out if I were you. Unless you've got some dangerous weapon on you, you're dead meat.

I followed after Mum. When we reached the door, we found that it was already opened by the gap between the double doors. Mum just kicked it open, making it swing to the side with such force that it made a loud noise that deafened my ears momentarily.

"OI! KIDNAPPER! YOU HERE?!" She shouted, looking around.

My hands clamped around the briefcase's handle, seeing some form of steam emit from my Mother. She was pissed. More so than I'd thought she'd be. She reminded me of a gangster. Her usual composed attitude had been thrown out the window.

" **No need to be so angry."**

The voice didn't sound like it was coming from an actual person, but rather, a machine.

Inside the building could still be seen since there was still light outside and the sun hadn't set yet. When we realised that there was something in the middle of the empty warehouse floor, we took a couple of steps forward, trying to determine what it was.

"What…?" I leaned forward, seeing a small brightly coloured device. It was yellow, and looked like a walkie talkie?

" **I took the liberty to come here ahead of time to set this up. Please, do come closer so that we can talk."** Okay, the voice really was coming from the walkie talkie.

As they requested, we went closer to the thing.

I was honestly quite surprised that they didn't appear to come and take the money by person, and do the switch in person too. Somehow, a pressure did lift off my shoulders, but it wasn't gone completely.

"Didn't you say that we were going to make an exchange? _Where_ is my husband? The money's here." Mum spat. She pointed at the metal briefcase I was holding.

The walkie talkie was silent for a moment. **"I believe I told you no police interference."**

My eyes widened, and so did Mum's. Her gaze became a penetrating glare as she stomped one foot in front of the walkie talkie. "There's no police interference here."

The walkie talkie was silent. The silence was tense and it made my toes curl.

"… **I see."** They paused, but then continued, **"That aside, leave the money here and go. If we find that the money is fake or something was done to it, say goodbye to Akira. If not, we will return him in 24 hours."**

 _Just like that?_ I stare at the ground in front of the walkie talkie and place the metal briefcase there, making sure that there was the clang of metal against the ground.

I steadily rose back up, but then felt a hand on my shoulder, pulling me back. "Mum?" I questioned.

"Let's go, Arisa." Her hand went from my shoulder to my wrist, and she dragged me along with her.

I was a little flabbergasted, wondering what was up. I thought that Mum and the kidnapper would talk a little more or something. I thought there was more that was going to happen?

"They disconnected the walkie talkie the moment that they told us what happens after." Mum let go of my wrist and looked back at the warehouse, eyes narrowing. She was thinking of something, but I didn't know what.

I was still lost. I didn't know what to think. Was this okay?

"We should get back." Mum hurried along the path we came. I glanced at her retreating back, then at the warehouse, then back at Mum. I jogged to catch up to her.

"Is it because it'll explode soon?" I asked. That would make sense, considering we'd need to get out of the radius of its shockwaves.

"No." Mum said. Her voice came out edgier than I thought it would. "They won't blow it up. They _can't_."

 _They_ can't _? What's that supposed to mean?_ I keep my mouth shut and just follow Mum, knowing that she'd probably snap at me the more I talked.

After a while of walking through the area, we ended up where the police and the others were waiting.

They greeted us with a combination of happy and worried expressions. Fugaku was the first to come up to us. His arms were crossed and his brows were knitted together.

"We should get back." Fugaku tilted his head towards his car.

Mum nodded briefly and followed him to the car. I did too, and when I got there, I saw that Shisui was in the back, and Itachi was in the front passenger's seat. Fugaku went to the driver's seat, and Mum and I filled in the rest of the seats. I sat in between Mum and Shisui at the back.

"Fancy seeing you here." Shisui grinned. He moved an inch to the side to allow room for me.

"Never imagined I would see your annoying face here." I said sarcastically. I plopped down onto the seat and felt my legs relax. It was the best feeling ever. The tenseness left my body and I felt like sleeping. The tension was gone, but my worries weren't.

Fugaku instructed the other police officers to go back, and we were on our way.

Shisui poked my cheek. "Not much happened back there, yeah?" His expression looked like a curious child's.

"You were listening in the whole time, weren't you?" I turn to him and raise a brow. "There wasn't that much that happened. In fact, it was the opposite of what I thought would happen."

"Hm…? I guess it's better that it happened this way, in a sense." The Uchiha shrugged and put on a thinking face.

"In a way, yeah." I agreed.

"This isn't a time to relax." Fugaku scolded.

 _We weren't relaxing though?_ I wanted to blurt that out loud, but he'd probably give me an evil glare so I refrained.

"Akira is still in danger. As long as the kidnapper is still on the loose, we can't do anything too rash."

"What, and blowing up the place isn't?" I chuckled bitterly, almost rolling my eyes. What a hypocritical thing for him to say.

Fugaku grunted and I could see the glare from his eyes even though he was driving.

"Arisa, I don't think you should've said that." Shisui whispered to me, nudging my arm.

I refused to apologize. After all, I was still pretty against blowing up the place.

"For your information, Arisa, I wasn't the one who gave the okay to detonate the warehouse." Fugaku's explanation made me look at him with pure and utter confusion.

"…what?" I finally said, astonished.

Everyone else was silent, waiting for Fugaku's answer. He sighed through his nose and stopped the car at the traffic lights, turning slightly so that I could see the side of his face.

"It was an order from higher up." His brows had knitted together, and he turned back to the wheel. "Keep that to yourself, alright? This shouldn't be discussed with anybody else." He warned me.

I was silent. There were a few thoughts swimming in my head, but I knew that now for sure.

The kidnapper had a spy within the high ranks of the police.


	38. Step 38

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #38

* * *

We waited anxiously; anxiously at the 23rd hour, before Dad was to be returned. Well, it was more like everyone else was just waiting around and talking amongst themselves.

I was in my temporary room, lying down on the bed and staring at the ceiling. My mind was blank. What was I even doing?

I heaved a heavy sigh and sat up, tying my hair into a ponytail. I did a couple of stretches to pass the time, staring at the clock every 30 seconds or so. It was nearly time, and I really wondered how they were going to return Dad given that the place was swarming with police officers.

Shisui had come in through the open door, holding a glass of water. "Anxious?" He questioned, heading over to me.

I glance at him and continue my stretching. "…I'm not entirely sure, actually."

Shisui held an expression where it looked like a cross between a smile and worried look. He waved the glass of water in my face, "It makes sense that you don't know what to feel." I took the glass. "After all, it's been quite hectic, these past few days."

I drank from the glass after stopping my stretching. Shisui sat down at the end of the bed and then lay down. After finishing my glass, I placed it on his forehead, holding it in place.

"What, you want to see my double chin?" I deadpanned.

Shisui grinned, "You mean triple—"

I press the glass down on his forehead, making him stop abruptly.

"Ow…" He murmured, a frown coming onto his lips. "The bottom of that glass hurts, you know. There are ridges there."

"Exactly why I'm doing this." I smile, pushing it a little harder on his forehead.

"You're such a sadistic person." His hand went on top of mine and pulled the glass away from him, sitting up a little as he did so. He propped up on his elbow and turned around so that he faced me, his head slightly leaned back.

"I can't imagine how uncomfortable you are." I commented, seeing the position he was in.

He smiled and let go of my hand, instead bringing it up so that he pushed a stray strand of hair behind my ear. His hand lingered there.

I saw some movement from the side of my eye and glanced towards the door.

Itachi was there, looking a little dumfounded for a brief second, before robotically turning on his heel and exiting.

"Itachi?" I called after the teen.

Shisui moved away from me and sat up on the end of the bed, rubbing his forehead. "Itachi, come back."

Not even a second later, the prodigy teen came back with an unsure expression. It was so cute. It looked like he didn't know what to do.

I motioned for him to come in, but he only took a couple of steps inside. He glanced at Shisui a few times with a strange expression.

"So, is something on your mind?" I asked, placing the empty glass on the night stand.

"We should head downstairs, now…it's nearly time." He said.

"Alright. I'll come down now." I slide off the bed and head down, but see that Itachi and Shisui had stayed behind. I peered back into the room, and see that they were about to start talking about stuff. I interrupted, "You guys coming?"

"A little later. You go down first." Shisui waved his hand.

I made an 'o' with my mouth and nodded a little, going down with the empty glass.

"Ah, Arisa. It's nearly time." Mikoto glanced at the clock and took the empty glass from me, giving it a good rinse.

"We were going to have the other officers wait around to see where and when your Father comes back." She informed me.

I nodded slowly, an image of my Dad appearing in my mind.

I really hoped that Dad was alright. At the time of the exchange, the kidnapper had known that the police was doing something. It wasn't directly related to the exchange, but it was still a form of involvement. And it was someone higher up than Fugaku, the one who snitched on the police and formed a stupid plan of detonating the warehouse.

If worse comes to worse, Dad would be half dead right now if the kidnapper was really serious. So to put it out there, it was 50-50 with Dad and him coming back in one piece.

I heard the sound of people coming down the stairs. It was Itachi and Shisui, and they were probably finished with whatever they were talking about.

"You guys all done?" I questioned.

They nodded.

Just after they nodded, the sound of a phone ringing loudly filled the silence of the room.

"Yes?" It was Fugaku's phone. He had received it quickly, and his expression had immediately gone to that of surprise. "Okay, thanks."

Fugaku ended the call and looked at everyone, "It appears Akira is headed this way."

"Dad's coming here?!" I exclaimed, alarmed.

Mum stood up immediately and she headed for the door, throwing herself out. Fugaku didn't stop her, but instead, he followed her out. I went out after them, followed by the Uchiha cousins.

"AKIRA! AKIRA! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Mum shouted in all directions.

I was nervous. I looked around the street, trying to see if there were any signs of Dad. With all the scattered police cars and disguised officers, it was quite hard to pinpoint anyone anywhere.

 _Dad, where are you?!_ I searched and searched, scanning over the ends of the streets again, seeing where he was coming from.

I heard a door open and in reflex took a look at which direction it was from – when I realised that the house with the open door was my house, I pulled Mum and pointed in that direction, spewing nothing but gibberish and fast talk.

"Arisa, what…?" Mum started.

"Reiko? What are you doing over there? And why is our room ransacked? Arisa?! What are you doing over there too? Your room's practically empty!"

It was not just me, but everyone's eyes widened at the voice. Dad had stepped out of the open door to our house, rubbing the back of his head. He wore a business suit and carried a metal briefcase. He had a dumbfounded expression on his face, seeing everyone gathered on the opposite side of the road, looking shocked as ever.

"Why is everyone over there? Did something happen?" Akira questioned.

Mum sprinted to him, jumping on him and hugging him tightly, which surprised Dad so much he nearly fell down. He dropped the metal briefcase he was holding.

"Reiko?!"

"What…?" It felt like my shoulders became lighter as a burden was taken off.

"Arisa, you should go to him…?" Shisui placed a hand on my shoulder, but became puzzled when he noticed the tears sliding down my cheeks. "Arisa?"

"I'm fine…" I blink the tears away and wipe the rest with my sleeve. "Just some spontaneous crying. Nothing to worry about."

I guess I was a little overwhelmed at the fact that Dad got home safe – after all that worrying, I was just so relieved. I ran to Dad, throwing myself on the hug that my parents were still in.

"WELCOME HOME, DAD!"


	39. Step 39

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #39

* * *

"What? A business trip?" Mum made a funny expression when Dad explained to everyone what he was doing the last few days.

"Yeah. What did you _think_ I was doing? I told you I'd be on a business trip. Though, I wasn't able to contact you for the last few days since my phone wasn't working." Dad raised a brow and looked around the room. "So, what's with this kidnapper stuff you all keep talking about?"

We were currently back at Shisui's residence. We had bombarded Dad about his health and situation, and asked him what the kidnappers were doing and all that stuff.

The people of the room were silent and glanced at each other, unsure of whether or not to tell him.

"Dad, that briefcase…" I broke the silence and changed the topic, pointing at the briefcase that he had on the ground by his side. I had seen that briefcase before. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was the exact same briefcase that we used to put the ransom money in.

"Oh, this? They told me to bring it with me, but they didn't tell me the reason why." Dad pulled it up and placed it on the table. "I guess I should open it now, huh."

We watched closely when Dad opened it. Once he did, we were astonished, but also expected, what the inside of the case contained.

"Money?!" Dad looked incredibly flabbergasted and shocked, "There's got to be at least a million here!"

Fugaku glanced at Mum and I. I think we all had the same thoughts.

 _Why was the ransom money sent back to us?_

"This doesn't make any sense." Mum pressed a hand to her forehead and shook her head. "What does this _mean_?"

"It means that they obviously don't want the money." Shisui piped up. He had a thinking face on. The Uchiha pointed to the case, "Uncle. That money is your wife's."

"My wife's money? What do you mean?" Dad was incredulous. When he saw the expression on Mum's face, his face contorted further in confusion.

"Let me say this bluntly. You were held for ransom." Fugaku spoke. "For 1 million."

"Ransom? Is that why you kept talking about kidnappers?" Dad raised a brow, "But I wasn't kidnapped or any of that sort."

"…which is what the problem is. What was your business trip to?" Fugaku interrogated.

"I was having a talk with…" Dad looked a little hesitant to say the name. He looked incredibly unsure, and was still conflicted in whether to tell us or not.

I think I knew where he was headed.

"Arrow." I ended Dad's sentence.

He looked over at me with wide eyes, "How did you know?!" He exclaimed.

 _He's so easy to read._

"So it was true." Fugaku's brows knitted together and he thought for a long moment.

"What was true?" Akira asked.

"That you were going to strike a deal with them." The police head explained.

 _What? That's news to me!_

Dad sat there with a weird expression that looked like anger, but also had a hint of surprise and brooding.

I'm not sure if I was seeing and hearing things right, but it felt like he was hiding a lot of things from us. I'm not sure if we can interrogate him any further, and if he'll be willing to say anything.

"Where did you hear this from?" Dad queried.

"Minato and Kushina."

 _Ah…is that why they were here before?_

"…figures." Dad sighed and closed the briefcase. "We're still in the middle of that deal. Nothing's been decided yet." It sounded like he didn't want to say anything further.

"…I see." Fugaku seemed to know that too. He heaved a heavy sigh and his tone lightened up, "Reiko, Arisa, you're free to go back to your own home now."

I glanced over at Mum and Dad. They looked back at me and smiled, nodding. Mum looked like she had tears at the corner of her eyes.

I nodded slowly, "Alright. Should we go back now?"

"Why don't you stay over for one more night?" Shisui suggested, leaning his cheek on his hand, which was supported by his elbow on his knee. "We need to catch up!"

"Didn't we already do that the moment you came back?" I asked with confusion.

"I'm pretty sure there's more that I can tell you." Shisui grinned.

"That should be fine." Mum smiled with agreement.

"Wait—hey, Mum! Don't just go deciding where I'm sleeping tonight!" I complained.

Mum said, "We're just across the road, so there's no problem at all. Plus, your stuff is already here."

 _Well, so is yours!_

"It doesn't matter too much whether you sleep over here or back at home. It's practically the same place."

 _Not really._

"Plus, you haven't seen Shisui is a while, so you might as well!"

 _I see him right now?_

"If that's okay with you, Akimi, Kazuhito?" Mum shifted her gaze to her close friends.

"It's fine with us." They responded.

 _Why do I get no say in this?!_

"Looks like you're staying here tonight." Shisui grinned.

I shrugged, finally giving in, "Okay, okay, fine."

I shake my head a little, but while I did so, the note Dad had stashed deep inside his belongings, the note from Kakuzu, came into my mind.

 _Hm…_

I had a little idea. If he wasn't going to cough up, I'll ask something a little different.

"On a side note, Dad, is Kakuzu doing alright?" I asked, faking genuine interest. I do remember Dad talking about Kakuzu, and telling me that I had met him before and all that stuff.

Dad's brows rose a little with surprise at my question, but he answered it anyway, "Kakuzu's doing fine. When I was leaving, he told me to pass on the message to you; to say hi, and that you've probably grown from being this tall," He used his hand to indicate my height when I was younger, and it went to his shoulders when he was sitting down, "to this tall!" His hand rose higher so that he couldn't reach any further.

I quickly glanced at Fugaku, hoping that he got some answers from that.

Looking back at Dad, he was all smiles. He seemed to trust Kakuzu.

"So he was on the business trip, too?" I asked.

"Yes. We hadn't seen each other in a while!" Dad chimed.

I nodded slowly, "I see…give him my regards, the next time you see him. Tell him I said 'hi', too."

"Sure thing!"

"Oh! It's getting dark. Mikoto, Akimi, do you need any help in the kitchen?" Mum stood up and went towards the women. They all stood up and headed towards the kitchen, going to make some food.

The Uchiha fathers and Dad started to talk amongst themselves about trivial matters that didn't involve me. Shisui and Itachi looked like they were listening intently, but I could see Shisui slowly sliding off the sofa and kind of just blending in to the background. He made his way towards me and ruffled my hair as he went to the kitchen, asking if there was anything to snack on.

Itachi had stayed rooted in his place. When he and I met eyes, his eyes didn't scream 'save me!', but was rather focused, like he was intent on staying there to learn something about what they're talking about.

I stood up and followed Shisui to the kitchen. That was probably more interesting than the talk going on now.

"Auntie Akimi, is there any leftover fruit?" I questioned.

"There's no more left. We have to get more tomorrow." She shook her head, "Sorry."

"There's coconut water." Shisui shoved something against my cheek.

I blinked a couple of times and took the beverage from him, checking out the packaging before poking the straw in and drinking.

"Thanks, Shi-chan."

"You're welcome, Ari-kun."

"Say, Shi-chan, why is your coconut water a much larger one than mine?" He had one that was 500ml and mine was like half of that.

"Be thankful I even gave you some." Shisui chuckled and pretended to take my drink away. I dodged his hand slapped it up so that it hit him in the face, which was purely accidental. That had caused coconut water to go onto his face and clothes after he spluttered it.

I made an 'o' with my mouth and quickly escaped, running up the stairs in a flurry.

Shisui was on my trail not too long after, a stiff smile on his face as he said my name in single syllables, voice dripping with danger.

I leaped to the other side of my temporary bed and hid under there, but it was impossible; he found me already. He dragged me out from there and began to tickle me.

I tensed and tried to stop myself from laughing and jerking in random directions, but in the end I had to, and I desperately tried to get away from him.

"HELP!" I screamed out weakly, half laughing half crying.

"No one's coming to help you now." Shisui continued to tickle me.

"Uh…"

With the humane sound that interrupted the tickling session, Shisui stopped and looked up at the door. I followed his gaze, seeing them upside down. But I knew who it was.

"What the hell are you two doing?!" Sasuke made a weird face, with his cheeks slightly red.

"What do you mean? It's a tickling fest." Shisui deadpanned.

"It doesn't look like—" Sasuke stopped when Itachi came up from behind him, somehow poking him in the forehead.

"Sasuke, Mother's asking for your assistance in the kitchen." He said. Sasuke took one look back at us and then went down the stairs, muttering something about his cousin and some chick being weird.

Itachi took a few steps into the room, a hand on his hip. He had a hopeless look on his face. "Your positions are weird." He stated bluntly.

Shisui and I blinked a couple of times, before carefully assessing the position. He was still standing up, except he was bent over so that he could tickle me. I was on the ground, my shirt rolled up so that it showed my stomach.

I blinked in silence a couple of times before I tripped Shisui so that he fell onto the bed, and that I could have space to sit up. I rolled my shirt back down with an 'oh' kind of face, thinking about how Sasuke saw the situation.

It wasn't too bad from my angle, but I might've just scarred somebody for life.

It's Sasuke.

Oh well.

"Ow…" Shisui groaned and rolled around on the bed. He stopped suddenly, "This is really comfy." He voice was muffled since he had buried his face into a pillow.

I stood up and pulled his legs gently, "Oi, Shisui, what you doing?"

Itachi looked amused while watching us. I didn't exactly understand why, but I swear there was a smile on his face.

"Shi-chan, your ears are red?"

"They're not!"

"Yes they are."

"No!"

Itachi chuckled at the scene.


	40. Step 40

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #40

* * *

"Your name was…Sasori, right?" I titled my head slightly to the side, hoping I was getting his name right.

"Yeah." The red head looked at me lazily. Well, he looked lazy but I think it was just his eyes. "I've come to learn."

"Oh!" I clapped my hands together and went over to the receptionist desk, taking out a form and pen. "Just fill out this form and then we can get started."

Once he was finished, he handed it to me. I took a little skim of it, seeing that he had basic to no understanding of martial arts.

"I see. I guess I'll sort you out to the beginner's class, then. That should be on soon, actually. The intermediate class is just finishing up." I organise the files.

"A new student?" Dad opened the door from the dojo-styled room, a towel draped around his neck. He scanned the red head from head to toe, "It's nice meeting you! I'll be your teacher. Just call me Akira."

"Okay."

 _He's not much of a talker, huh?_

"I'm going to go buy lunch, so I'll be back soon. There's a spare outfit in the males changing rooms for him." I take my bag and put on my shoes, waving bye to the two before leaving.

 _I feel like…Japanese food._

As I made my way to the closest restaurant to take-away from, I thought about everything that had happened thus far. It's been a whirlwind of an adventure, but for now, stuff seems to have died down.

 _For now._

Arrow's still bothering me. I don't know their goal; I don't know their reasoning; I don't know _them_.

The police are actually still investigating about this situation, and are gathering info from all around. Fugaku's been pretty overworked recently. It's been a couple of days since Dad had been returned, so they're charging full steam ahead since they seemed to have found some leads.

Of course, since I wasn't part of the police force, I wasn't able to get any scoop on what that lead was.

Once I was at the restaurant, I ordered both my Dad and my share. I was helping out at the dojo today since Mum had to go back to her job to make up for the lost hours. Plus, the usual receptionist was on holidays, so I was kind of forced to.

"Arisa? Is that you?"

 _Now that's a voice I didn't expect to hear here._

I glance to my side. "Yuko." I stated. "Nice to see you here, too."

Yuko, in all his sickening fabulous glory, grinned and placed a hand on my shoulder, giving me the thumbs up. "I've been dreaming about this day! Where we meet at a restaurant!"

"It's not that big of a deal." I look to the counter to see if my food had been done yet. It wasn't. I ordered just 1 minute ago, too. Why can't it get here faster?

 _Urgh, of all times, why do you appear now?_

"I'm getting some take-away here, too." Yuko took his hands off me. "I quite like this place's food. It's a lot different from the food back at home."

"You mean in Europe?" I questioned.

"Yeah. It's more authentic here." Yuko grinned.

"I see. That's pretty interesting."

"So, how's Shisui?" Yuko whistled when he said his name.

"Shisui? Are you two friends now?" I raise a brow. Last time I checked, they seemed to be fighting over something.

"Well, we're actually on good terms. So I guess so." Yuko shrugged. He placed his hands on his hip.

"Shisui's actually doing something down at the police station. He called me at 6am in the morning to tell me that." I sigh deeply when I remembered this morning's wake up call. It was totally uncalled for. I don't get why he had to tell me anyway.

"6am? That's…" Yuko laughed a little.

"Yeah, I know right? But he's always like that. He does things spontaneously sometimes, so I guess this is one of them."

"Yeah, he seems like the type."

We chatted a little about some other things. Surprisingly, he wasn't as annoying today. Strangely enough, I could tolerate him.

"Well, I should get going now." I collected my food and waved bye to Yuko, who was still waiting for his food.

I went back to the dojo. When I did, I looked through the window to the training room, seeing Sasori practicing with Dad. He was in the beginner's class like instructed, along with the others.

I ate the food first, sitting down on the chair whilst browsing the net.

"Hm?" I held the plastic fork in my mouth, a little surprised at what I had found. On the front page of my email holder, there was breaking news.

" _Archaeologists have discovered a huge grave containing hundreds of victims from a tip off from an anonymous person, who claimed there to be dinosaur remains on the outskirts of the west side of the city. However, it has been discovered to be human remains. This is a huge discovery; forensics and police are already starting their investigation. It is believed that these victims are all related to gangs and or are those who have been declared missing. Keep tuned for updates."_

I listened to the news report, seeing the helicopter footage that they took of the area. They didn't show the whole gravesite, but they did show a lot of it from a side angle. They limited it so that the younger generation didn't see anything that would scar them for life.

 _That's a lot of victims…_ I looked at the comments, seeing that people were commenting that it was a massacre or serial killing, and that it's impossible to have so many people buried in the same spot.

 _I guess it does look that way…wait a minute, is this what Fugaku has been overworked by?_ I looked into blank space in realisation. _So_ that's _why…I think?_

I continue to eat.

 _I guess I'll ask Shisui or Fugaku about it later._

The door to the training room opened, and the beginner's students filed out. At the end was Dad and Sasori. Sasori looked completely normal, but Dad was sweating buckets. It was understandable, though, since Dad had been working since the morning.

"How did you enjoy that class?" Dad grinned at Sasori.

"It was good." The red head went over to where I was, "How much is it for a class? I'll pay now."

"Ah, for the very first class it's free." I had to stop chewing before talking.

Sasori stared at me with his brown eyes for a long moment, before nodding slowly, "Okay…"

"Yup, so it's alright. For the first class it's free, since we want you to experience how the classes are. If you decide that you still want to continue, then we'll start charging you from the 2nd class onwards." I explained to him.

"Okay." Sasori nodded and went to the change rooms.

Dad looked over the counter, "Where's my food? I'm hungry."

I hand it to him, "With no mushrooms, yeah."

"Thanks! You're the best daughter!" He grinned and opened it up, scarfing it down like a dog.

"I'm your _only_ daughter." I laugh at how he was eating, continuing to eat my own. I did pause a little bit, "By the way, how's Sasori?"

"The red head?" Dad questioned.

"Yeah. He said that he didn't know any or only a little bit of martial arts, but did that showcase in what you saw?"

"…he seemed to grasp the concepts quite well for a newbie. His kicks were horrible, but his flexibility is good." Dad commented.

"I see."

"You think he was lying?"

"Nah, I was just curious. He was the only one not broken out in sweat like the others were."

"He probably does other sports that build upon his cardio." Dad shrugged. "I do have hopes for him though."

"That's good. Did he say if he wanted to continue doing other classes?"

"I haven't heard from him yet."

"I'll continue doing these classes." Speak of the devil, Sasori just came out. He was the first one to do so, too, in his normal gear. He came up to me, "Can I see the schedules?"

"Yeah, sure." I handed him our timetable.

His eyes scanned it quickly, "I'll do all the beginner's classes."

"Alright. I'll make a note of that. You have the choice to buy or borrow the uniforms for your classes." I explained a few other small details to him. "You can also have a copy of the timetable."

Sasori was silent for a long time. He handed the timetable back to me, "I've memorised it already."

In surprise, my brows rose. I took back the timetable and put it away. When I went back to face him, he was staring intently at me, like a professor reading a paper.

"Uh, is everything alright?" I felt a little uncomfortable with the stare. Although he looked lazy, his gaze was sharp.

"Are you the receptionist?" He finally asked.

 _What…?_ I was a little shocked at what he asked, but at least it was better than asking anything that wasn't related to this dojo.

"Not normally. The actual receptionist went on holidays this summer, so I'm just temporarily taking her place until she gets back." I responded.

"I see." Sasori nodded slowly. He turned to Dad and thanked him for the class, before leaving.

"What a nice kid." Dad complimented, grinning. He had already finished his lunch.

I was at a loss. Sasori was a little…strange. Like, not in a very weird way, but it was hard to come by people who acted like he did.

 _Maybe he's just one of a kind._


	41. Step 41

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #41

* * *

"Hey, Shi-chan, I have a question." I had called up Shisui just before I was going to go to bed. He answered almost immediately.

" _Ari-kun, what's up_?"

"You know how I said that Uncle Fugaku looked overworked the past few days?"

" _Yeah."_

"I saw an article about a huge grave of human remains today on the net. Is it because of that?"

"… _yeah, it is. It's been keeping us pretty busy. A lot of the police force and forensics have come together to identify when they all died, and if it was a murder, massacre and whatnot."_

"Wait a minute, you make it sound like the police have been on this case for a couple of days already."

" _We have. It's just broke the media now because we've asked them to keep quiet for a little bit."_

"Ah…is that so…" I paused for a moment, before realising something, "Is that why you called me at 6am today so that you could declare that you were going to the station?!"

Shisui laughed, " _Yeah. Like my wakeup call_?"

"No! I was sleeping!"

" _I wanted to hear your voice before I got to work, though_." He sounded like he was pouting.

"But why 6am?!"

" _Well, I just woke up, too…_ "

I sighed, "Okay, okay. I'm pretty sure you've heard my voice a lot, so why don't you just imagine it or something."

" _It doesn't beat the real thing_."

"It's pretty much the same."

" _Not really_."

"Okay, enough about my voice. There's one looming question that I want to ask about what I called for – the huge gravesite. Is it related to Arrow?" I asked, voice changing to a stern tone.

It was silent on the other end for a moment, before he responded. " _We can't confirm yet for sure. We're still identifying the victims, and we're doing a lot of background research on them too. I'd say it's a couple of days too early for me to confirm anything._ "

"Oh…okay. You're going to the site tomorrow, right?"

" _Mhmm_."

"Good luck. Find all those clues!"

" _Gotcha. I'll give you a wakeup call tomorrow, too! Ja!_ "

Before I could protest, the phone beeped when he hung up on me. I frowned at it and placed it on the bedside table.

 _So Shisui's working hard, eh. Hm…_ I thought for a long moment, feeling something was amiss.

Quickly, I jumped off my bed and opened the window, eyes darting around as I glared in every direction that I could. I scanned the area carefully, trying to see if there was anything that caught my interest. None.

I closed the window, brows furrowing together in suspicion.

 _I swear someone or something was watching me…_

* * *

"Sasori's getting a lot better!" Dad complimented his new student, grinning heaps.

The red head wasn't in sight; he was changing. This was just after one of his classes, too. It had been a couple of weeks since Sasori joined.

I raised a brow at him, nodding slowly. "Okay…what did he do now?"

I've been stuck at the receptionist desk at the dojo for the past couple of weeks. Sometimes I held some classes for little kids that came in school groups, and sometimes for the intermediate group when Dad was busy with some other stuff.

"He did a jump kick!"

"…he did a _jump kick?!_ " I looked at Dad with an extremely puzzled expression. "That's pretty advanced for a beginner."

"Oh, it's fine. He's a good student." Dad grinned, "His flexibility really helps."

 _Or maybe he's just naturally good at it? I don't know._ I shake my head a little and go back to doing what I had to do.

I finished up the things that I needed to do for the beginner's class – pretty much take the payments of those who haven't paid yet. They all left afterwards, telling me that they'd see me when they come next time, and telling Dad that they'll see him next class.

Apart from that, I was checking out Shisui's texts that he sent me, which was really just random status updates and emoticons. He was at the labs with Fugaku, helping out with that case from 2 weeks ago. The one with the massive grave.

Apparently there were hundreds of victims under there, and they're yet to identify them all. They're nearly there, but getting information on each of them was pretty hard. Shisui was pretty tight lipped about the info surrounding this case and wouldn't tell me anything.

Dad peered over my shoulder after going behind the counter. He just finished his last class for the day, so now he's just doing whatever.

"That investigation's still ongoing." Dad commented. He threw the towel around his neck into the wash basket. "I'm pretty sure they said that most of the people found there were all dead from a few years back."

"A few years back?" That piqued my interest. I remember Shisui and the online commentators saying something to that extent. Did Dad know the number of years?

"I think it was around 5 years ago or so?" Even Dad, the one who brought it up, was confused. He scratched the underside of his chin but then shrugged it off, telling me that he was going to get changed.

I nodded slowly. It was an intriguing case, actually. Who knew that such a huge grave existed right under our noses, yet no one gave any tip offs about it until now?

I lean back and stretch.

 _Well, it's not like it's got anything to do with me anyway._

* * *

" _ **BREAKING NEWS! THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL NEAR THE CITY HAS BEEN SET ON FIRE IN AN ARSANIST ATTACK!**_ "

I stare at the TV screen, jaw dropping when I saw the footage. It was live. The amount of smoke that billowed out of the building's windows was insane, and the fire that engulfed the building was burning like it never burnt before.

There was a loud explosion like sound, which surprised me. It probably came from the building on fire.

"The children's hospital?" Mum sat down, a concerned expression on her face. "Who could have done such a thing?!" She shook her head, "Poor children…"

Dad looked just as concerned as Mum did. He had stopped eating to watch them give the details.

" _ **Reporting live from the children's hospital. It is believed the fire broke out about an hour ago. It has since spread through the building like wildfire. Doctors, nurses and children are still being evacuated to safety. As you can see, firemen from all around have come to help stop the blaze."**_ The reporter took a breath, _**"Police are tight lipped about the current situation."**_ The reporter took a step to the side, showing the police at work. I saw Itachi and Shisui near the scene, with their thinking faces on. They were conversing with someone from the scene, possibly a witness.

"Those kids are working so late." Mum expressed a sigh, "It must take a bad toll on their health."

"I guess that's the life of a police officer." I leaned on my palm. "First that massive gravesite and now this. It seems they've really got a lot on their hands."

Just as I finished my sentence, there were several loud knocks on our front door, with the other side shouting at us to open up.

The whole family stood up to go to the door, curious and surprised at the other party. Once we opened up, it revealed one of the police officers from Fugaku's squad. He was the one that was keeping watch around the neighbourhood whilst the head and other officers were out doing their jobs.

The officer looked incredibly tired, huffing and puffing like he had run a mile or two.

"Officer? Are you alright?" Mum asked with concern.

Dad placed a hand on his shoulder, "You alright there, son?"

"Akira…your…your dojo…fire...it's…IT'S ON FIRE!"


	42. Step 42

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #42

* * *

I couldn't even recognise the place when I arrived. It was like the children's hospital that had gone up in flames, but the building this time wasn't the hospital, but instead, Dad's dojo.

The officer wasn't kidding when he said it was up in flames. It _literally_ was.

Though I could barely see most parts of it because of the smoke and flames, I did see some. Parts of the building looked like it had exploded, with random missing chunks here and there.

BOOM!

The deafening sound sent shockwaves that carried through to the neighbourhood, nearly forcing us off our feet.

 _OKAY, I TAKE THAT BACK! IT DOESN'T_ LOOK LIKE _IT HAD, BUT IT_ DID _!_

I squint and hold my arms in front of my face so that I blocked off any flying debris and heat. I could hear the sounds of people shouting at each other to call the police and the fire fighters.

"Wait a minute…" The moment of the hospital's fire flashed into my mind. I whipped around to the officers and people that were talking, "Even if you called them they're all in the city at the children's hospital!"

Realisation crossed everyone's faces. They looked shocked, scared and even angry.

"F-FOR NOW, STAY AWAY FROM THE SITE! THERE SEEMS TO BE EXPLOSIVES THERE, SO WE CAN'T GO ANYWHERE NEAR IT!" The officer shouted.

I clenched my teeth and look back at the dojo, seeing that half of it had been blown away by the explosion. Anger bubbled up inside me – I felt so _helpless._ I couldn't do anything to stop the fire, to protect this dojo that Dad poured his heart and soul into. I was just _standing there_ , watching as it burned.

 _Why did the children's hospital have to burn at a time like this?! What kind of coincidental timing is this?!_

I clicked my tongue with annoyance and pulled out my phone, phoning Shisui immediately. He was the only one I could turn to, at a time like this. He may be busy right now, but I don't care.

Shisui picked up after a few rings.

" _Arisa? Why are you calling at a time like this?"_

I explained the situation to him.

" _What?! The dojo?!"_ I heard some background noise and muffled talking, then Shisui was back on the phone again, " _Okay, listen to me—"_

"Shisui?" Confusion plastered on my face when the call was cut short, leaving only the long sound of a prolonged beep. I take the phone away from my face and stare at it, shocked.

 _The line just cut dead…?_

I tried calling Fugaku, but it didn't go through. Every other person I tried calling didn't work, either.

"What the hell?!" I growled lowly in response to this mess.

 _Nothing_ was going my way today!

I wanted to throw my phone onto the ground and smash it with my foot until it was just a pile of rubbish, but I couldn't, since getting a new one would be a pain in the ass.

I slip it back into my pocket and look around, trying to find my parents. I found them near the police officer that had brought us here, looking solemn as they watched their life's handiwork burn up in flames.

My chest tightened when I saw them like that.

"ARISA!"

I knew that voice. I didn't even have time to be annoyed when I saw their face.

"Yuko." I stated almost blandly. With everything that was going on, seeing him here wasn't even a surprise anymore.

"What happened?! Why is your dojo burning?!" He looked pretty frantic, completely the opposite of what his usual flirtatious self was. If I wasn't as angry and frustrated as I was right now, I'd call this refreshing.

"I honestly don't know!" I shake my head and sigh deeply. "All I know is that the fire fighters are all the way in the city, and we're left with none! There's nothing we can do until the fire pretty much finishes burning the whole thing!"

Yuko looked a bit taken aback. He thought for a brief moment and then ran off somewhere, leaving me alone. I watch him run, puzzled. He was going around to the neighbouring houses and taking a good look around. He then came back up to me without breaking a sweat. He tied the front part of his hair into an upwards knot so that it stayed out of his face.

"Arisa, can you help me get everyone's help?!" Yuko pointed at one of the houses, "They have hoses! We can use them and slow down the fire!"

"The hoses!" My eyes widened with realisation and hope, and I immediately went around, shouting and telling the people about the hoses and how we can stop the fire.

People were already on board, and they helped out, taking all the neighbouring houses' hoses and attaching them to the pipe, before starting to get rid of the fire.

As the waterworks began, Yuko and I watched the place, hoping the fire would die down. After a few minutes of waiting, Yuko went up closer to the burning building.

"YUKO, WAIT! THAT'S DANGEROUS!" I shouted. I think he already knew, but he did it anyway?

I didn't have a clue of what was going through his mind, but when he turned around, he looked like he had seen a ghost. He sprinted past me so quickly I didn't even see him, and in a mere matter of seconds, the water from the hoses had stopped coming out.

"What?!" I exclaimed. Why had the water stopped? Did Yuko do that?!

The people around me were all kicking up a fuss as to why the water stopped.

Yuko came back and stood somewhere where everybody could hear him.

"YOU! Why did you turn off the water?!" One of the people shouted at him, pointing a finger accusingly in his face.

"I turned it off because this isn't a normal fire!" Yuko spoke quite loudly and with a tone of authority that I'd never heard before.

The looks on people's faces were shocked, including myself.

"What do you mean?!" We all threw our questions at once.

"It's a gasoline fire!" Yuko stated. He pointed at the burning building, "If we add any more water to that, the fire will get bigger! That's the opposite of what we want!" He explained. "The only way to get rid of this fire is either use liquid foam or to just let it burn! We don't have much of a choice here!" He shook his head, "Plus, with all the other problems that can contribute to this fire, we can't do anything carelessly!"

The people were quick to become quiet. I just stood there in shock. The one hope that we had was gone. I clenched my teeth, staring at the burning dojo with cloudy eyes.

The longer it burned, the more it felt like it was ripping apart my childhood. I spent a lot of time there when I was younger, training and bonding with my parents, with Shisui, Itachi, and many other people that attended the dojo along with us. Over the years I'd come to take it for granted, but even then, it never ceased to amaze me when I saw all those happy, tired, satisfied faces when they achieved their goals.

"Why…the dojo…?" I couldn't help but let out a single tear, but no one saw it, since the fire let the moisture evaporate in record time.

"The police are here!" Yuko's shout made everyone alert.

The familiar sound of the police siren came to my ears, and I felt a little more relaxed.

"EVERYONE GET AWAY FROM THE SCENE! WE'RE CAUTIONING IT OFF!" One of the police officers shouted at us when he slammed the door closed to the car. He quickly got out his cell phone and headed to the scene of fire, followed by a few of the others, who then scattered off to tell the others that it'll be fine, and that they'll take it from there.

"It looks like the police are here." Yuko stated. He watched them do their work, eyes narrowing ever so slightly at the procedures.

"…I don't see him." Yuko stated.

"Who?"

"Shisui."

"Hm? Isn't he at the fire in the city?"

"Is he? I see…"

"Excuse me, but you should evacuate the area. We're sealing it off." The police officer came up to us.

I think I may have stared a bit too long, because the officer petted both Yuko and I on the head, telling us to go along now.

Eventually we did, and I reunited with Mum and Dad to go home.

"…he was blue, right?" I questioned Yuko about the officer.

The male nodded slowly. "He…was blue. Definitely blue."

"Yuko, I didn't know you lived around here." I stated. Mum and Dad were walking in front of us, Mum in Dad's arms as he comforted her.

"Well, I was actually on a run when I heard all the commotion. I do live around here, a few streets from you and Shisui." Yuko responded.

"…is that so?" I mused lightly.

I felt a bit better that the police had come to take care of the situation. But I was still a little worried, so I kept looking over my shoulder to see what they were doing.

My eyes caught sight of something quick and red, which puzzled me. It was like a fireball had decided to throw itself into the fire.

 _That looks pretty dangerous…I wouldn't want to be there if it was spitting out fireballs._

"Alright, I've got to head home from here. See you around, Arisa. I'm sorry about the loss of the dojo." Yuko sounded quite apologetic, even though it was not his fault.

"It's fine. We have insurance, so we'll have it back up in no time." I tried to stay positive.

With a wave, he and I split, going back to our respective homes.

We all sat in the living room, watching the TV and seeing the situation unfold at the children's hospital. The Uchiha's were still there, working their butts off. I could see that they were becoming more stressed by the minute. In the background, Shisui and Fugaku looked like they were discussing something rather serious, and Fugaku's brows furrowing intensely.

The reporter that we saw earlier was still on the screen – they were giving updates about the current situation, how many patients' lives were saved, what people were doing, and concerns for safety and whatnot.

Dad went upstairs, "I'm going to take a bath."

I completely ignored him and kept my eyes on the screen, repositioning myself so that I was comfortable. I didn't actually pay much attention to what they were saying, but rather, more on the moving pictures as well as my memory of the fireball just before we came home from the dojo.

That fireball really stayed in my mind. What exactly was it? I thought back to when I saw it. It was going _into_ the fire. I'm pretty sure fireballs went _out_ of a fire, not _into_ one…

Was it even a fireball in the first place?

* * *

It was pretty much midnight. Well, a little bit later. Like, maybe 2am?

Anyway! It wasn't too cold so I just went out with some trackies and a loose shirt.

I was sneaking out.

I headed off to the dojo. I didn't know whether or not it was still burning, but I wanted to confirm for sure. The fireball that I saw earlier probably wasn't even a fireball at all.

Plus, even if it was the middle of the night and I was told to stay away from the area and stuff, that wasn't going to stop me from going there to check up on it. The dojo was my second home!

While I was walking, I heard a few groans come from the alleyway. I tensed and I took out my phone, setting it to the brightest and shining it inside the alleyway. My eyes widened when I saw a few people there.

They looked like they were asleep. The way they were positioned and how they were pretty much stripped of their uniform made me think that they were knocked unconscious and put here.

I knew who they were, too. I recognised those faces as the people who were under Fugaku. In order words, they were police officers. But what were they doing here?

I took a couple of steps closer, seeing if they were alright. They were actually fine, with no external wounds that I could see. I just let them be, making a note to myself to check up on them after I've checked on the dojo.

 _So what exactly happened for them to be like that…?_

I was pretty much near the scene of the fire. My thoughts had come together, and I realised that the police officers that had arrived at the fire scene and shooed us away weren't actually police officers.

My eyes widened when I thought back to when we were talking to the blue police officer, as well as observing the others. They were all officers I hadn't seen before.

 _Is my line of reasoning correct…? But wait…if I don't recognise them…that could also mean that they're from another district, maybe?_

I arrived at the dojo. I could feel my blood starting to run cold at the prospect of this thought. As I looked at the dojo, I could see that it was pretty much gone, with small flames burning away the last remaining bits.

 _The dojo…_

On the side, the police car was still there. There was someone standing near the car, looking like they were keeping watch.

I looked at the dojo. Other than being burnt to nothing, there were a few of the supposed police officers there, and they were going inside the burnt remains of the dojo. They looked quite suspicious, actually. Although the fire was still burning, though small, they ventured in, pushing debris away. They seemed to be looking for something.

"What are they doing…?" My thoughts escaped my lips as I went closer. Instead of going closer just like that, I went to an area where they couldn't see me and observed.

Just like I saw before, they were definitely searching for something. Were they seeing if there was anything to be recovered? Or something else?

Anyhow, they were surrounding a specific area of the burnt remains, and pushing all debris away from it. When they had pushed most things away, they began to dig. Some of the wood that hadn't been fully burnt was used as a makeshift shovel, and they dug.

It seemed to go on for a long time, until the sound of a thump was heard against the wood.

 _What exactly are they doing? What_ is _that?_

I lean a little closer to see them take out whatever they had hit into.

"This is it. This is the thing that they're looking for." One of them spoke.

What they had pulled out was a metal box. It had dirt on it, but they had brushed it away. I heard the jingle of a lock – were they going to open it?

As expected, they started to open the thing. They brought out a key and fiddled with the lock until it opened, and then put a sort of code in.

 _So it's a double lock?_

It intrigued me what they were doing. Kind of like finding treasure, actually.

Once they were able to open the metal box, they took out another box from inside, but this time, it was a wooden one, and carved very nicely. The one handling it turned it on all angles, allowing me to see what it looked like. It was pretty much a normal box, but it had an engraving on the bottom of the box, one that glowed in the dark.

 _That engraving…_

"This is it. We should go now, before the actual police come." Another one of them whispered. They put the wooden box back inside the metal box.

With a nod of agreeance, they all started to go to the car.

 _So I was right. They're_ not _from the police force!_

I stood up and made my way towards the ruins to explore it. I wanted to see how it was with my own eyes, up close, and if there was anything that they had left behind.

However, before I could even see anything, I was suddenly looking up, a hand clamped tightly around my neck from behind, and my arms restrained.

I was on high alert, feeling the adrenaline pump through my veins as my body tensed. I couldn't even sense their presence, nor hear them come up behind me at all! This was no ordinary person.

I turned my head slightly so that I could see the look of the one restraining me.

The flash of red that I mistook for a fireball was probably this person.

"I think you saw a bit too much…Arisa."


	43. Step 43

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #43

* * *

I didn't speak a word when I saw who it was. More like, I couldn't form the words due to being restrained by both neck and arms.

"Why did you come back here?" The red head tightened his grip on my leg and neck, his nails slightly digging into my skin, but not enough to bruise it. His voice was soft like usual, but had an edge to it that demanded an answer.

 _Tch…! If only I could kick him right now!_

But even though I thought those things, right now, I knew I couldn't. He was only restraining my arms and head movements, but I knew that this guy was stronger than what he claimed. If I kicked him now, he would counter and do something else.

 _Why didn't I see through it and question it more when I saw him back at the dojo?!_

I internally screamed at myself for being such an idiot. I should have been more suspicious considering he came to watch Itachi and I spar, questioned me, then came another day and signed up. The timing of when he came to the dojo first and that jump kick should've pushed that suspicion further!

But no, I had to be an ignorant little girl.

I stare at Sasori from the side of my eyes, holding my stare.

"You can't talk like that, can you?" A low chuckle escaped his throat and the grip on my neck loosened just a little bit, so that I could talk properly.

"Kuh…!" The first thing I did was gulp in a massive breath of air, which went the wrong way so I ended up coughing. "Sasori…! I should have been more suspicious of you!" I spoke through gritted teeth.

The corner of his lip curled up ever so slightly, and I could feel the smugness radiate off him. "You were probably the stupidest one out of the three."

"Three?" What the hell was he talking about?

"Shisui, Itachi, and…you."

My eyes narrowed and I tried to glare at him, but it failed. The angle I was in made it hard to glare in his direction.

"Itachi seemed to know to throw suspicion on me, while all you did was naively do what I asked you."

I pressed my lips into a thin line, the feeling of irritation and annoyance combining with hints of betrayal.

I honestly thought Sasori was a good guy. Not a guy of many words, but he still seemed pretty decent.

"I don't get…why you're doing this…" I could feel his hand clam up around my neck again, just ever so slightly.

"You saw something that you shouldn't have." He answered stoically. His voice went back to its usual softness that I was used to, "Now, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

"I was checking…"

"On the building? It's been burnt to ashes. You should know that."

"But…! This place is my 2nd home…!"

"Who cares for such sentiments?" The coldness from his voice was like a stab through the flesh. He was so uncaring – moreover, it didn't seem forced.

Was _this_ his true nature?

"What should I do with you now that I've captured you?" Sasori became silent for a short while. I tried to move, but he knew almost immediately and stopped me in my tracks. "Maybe I should kill you…"

My eyes immediately widened.

 _Kill me?_

"That expression is befitting of something that doesn't have any shred of elegance."

On reflex, I elbowed him with annoyance, but he dodged it. In response, he kicked my legs and threw me so that I hit the ground on my stomach, which hurt like a bitch. He placed a hand on the back of my neck and on my arms, restraining me just like before.

"I'm going to kill you anyway, so I'll tell you the reason why we burned down this house." Sasori's emotionless expression surprised me – what was he thinking?

 _Shit…he's going to kill me?! What_ is _he?!_

"Arrow…" I turned my head further to the side so that I could speak.

Sasori let out a low chuckle, but it stopped short and he pressed his hand harder into my neck, forcing the side of my face further into the debris.

"Since your stupid sentiments allowed you to get attached to this place, I'll tell you now. _I_ set it on fire. Doused it in gasoline, watched it burn…watched it explode. Remember those explosives placed at the warehouse? Those were used to destroy this dojo." He didn't even crack a smile or show any emotion, contrary to before. "You see…Arrow has something that they need to obtain, at all costs…and you saw it."

"Box…?" I managed to say.

Sasori let a small smirk onto his lips, letting out a "Hmph" in agreement. "That box holds information that the police want. Too bad they don't know it exists. They're far too distracted with the hospital fire than this one."

 _So Sasori was the one who destroyed my 2_ _nd_ _home...and he's in Arrow. Does that mean he set the hospital on fire, too?! For now, I'll get what information I can. I'll fight him if it really comes down to it!_

"Why…in dojo…?" I spat out some of the dirt that went into my mouth.

"The box was buried here before Akira overtook the dojo. The previous owner was someone affiliated with Arrow, kind of like a secretary. They had this box buried under the dojo, because it was a place where nobody would look." Sasori explained. "We're just reclaiming back what is ours."

"Urgh…it's not like…I know what's in it!" I winced when his grip got stronger. He may look like a weak ass (face wise) but he's strong as hell.

"And you think that's going to save you?" The red head smirked, "Too bad. You're dealing with Arrow's #1 assassin."

"Assassin…?" My eyes go wide. I didn't know they still existed?!

 _#1 assassin…?_ I gulped. The sound of that was impressive, but given the context I'm in right now, it's not so impressive.

Sasori took a brief moment to look over at the people who had the box, near the car. I couldn't see what they were doing, but I knew full well that they hadn't left yet.

I needed to buy myself some time. I needed to see if there were any other crucial pieces of information that I could get.

But my mind was blank.

The only thing I could think of was how I was up against Arrow's #1 assassin, and I'm going to be on death row for nothing!

"That look suits you." Sasori looked amused.

"Yeah, well, you look like a shit." I hissed.

The red head's expression didn't shift, but he did roll his eyes. "Any last words?" I saw something really quick and small go past my vision, and the sound of a low-key whistle very close to me. It was so quick – a knife was pressed lightly against my jawline.

 _Where the hell did he get this knife?!_

I probably had the palest face ever when I realised what he was going to do.

I gulped thickly, seeing the glint of the knife. I broke out in cold sweat. Suddenly, thoughts rushed into my mind, stimulating it to think quickly.

What could I say to him? What could I ask him? What could I do about this predicament that I was in?

 _THINK, ARISA, THINK!_

"So you blub like a goldfish. Is your memory 3 seconds, too?" Sasori snickered. He pressed the knife a little closer, "Well, nice knowing you."

"Hospital!" I quickly interrupted him. I never did know about the hospital's current situation. Well, I did, but there was something I had to ask him even if he spared me for only a minute or something.

He had stopped, "What about it?"

"Did you set fire to that, too?"

"Yeah. It was a distraction so all the cops and firefighting crew would go there."

"…a-another question…" I stuttered. I was really grasping at straws. He seemed nice enough to give me answers, even if he was someone that I considered the enemy.

He didn't say anything and waited for me to talk.

"Why did you kidnap my Dad and hold him for ransom?" I added, "We had it returned…what was the point…?"

Sasori's face held the same emotionless expression as before. His eyes shifted to the side very quickly, before coming back to me. "That let us access the explosives."

"But you're from Arrow! You could've made your own!" I didn't get them. What exactly was it that they were after?

Sasori let out a light chuckle, bitterness now apparent in his eyes. "You really think we did that for nothing?" He clicked his tongue.

In the end, he didn't tell me the reason.

 _But whatever reason it was, he seemed to get agitated just by thinking about it?_

"Alright, enough questions. I've let you in on too much." With a flick of Sasori's wrist, I expected the pain to come like an extremely painful papercut.

But that never came.

I didn't feel the ground up against my face, but instead, I felt someone's level breathing, clean clothes, and perfume.

 _What?_

"Yuko…" I breathed, eyes going wider by the second. I honestly did not expect him to be here.

He was holding me close, quite protectively, I might add, with a gun in his hands, pointed at Sasori.

Sasori was the exact same as I saw him earlier, but the expression he held was much different. He was just standing there, staring at us with half lidded brown eyes, seething calm anger. It sent chills down my spine.

Yuko glared at the red head, "What do you think you're doing?!" He pressed me closer into his chest.

 _Wait a minute…_

Sasori tilted his head slightly to the side in question, "Who are you?"

"MASTER SASORI'S IN TROUBLE! LET'S GO!"

The screams of the fake police officers were heard; the slam of the car door, the screech of wheels against concrete and then the sounds of some of them running up to where we were.

"Master Sasori! The box is on its way to him!" One of the fake officers spoke. They brandished a knife from somewhere and came charging at us.

"Sorry, Arisa." Yuko threw me over his shoulder and jumped up and over the fake officers. He started to run away from the scene, looking back just briefly at them.

"They're following you." I managed to say. "Oh, _shit!_ Sasori's fast! GO GO GO GO GO!" I urged the one carrying me.

Sasori was literally like a speeding red sports car – he had overtaken those fake officers in no time, and was hot on our trail. The scariest thing was that he had the most expressionless expression ever.

"I'm going as fast as I can! And I'm carrying you!" Yuko retorted.

I didn't realise it before, but the situation that I found myself in was quite unbelievable. A guy that I somewhat trusted ended up being the #1 assassin for a company that had a reputation for being both good and bad, and they want to kill me because they fed me too much information, and Yuko saved me from this guy (and I don't even know how he did it).

 _What have I gotten myself into…?_

I do admit, the situation itself was quite thrilling, but also had aspects of _please-don't-kill-me_ in it as well. Like dude, they had knives and guns. I had nothing on me, except martial arts. Which won't do shit.

"Can't you go any faster?!" I screamed at Yuko. A bullet had hit the pavement just metres from where we had been. "They're _shooting_ at us?!"

"Nothing out of the ordinary." Yuko whistled, and he had a smirk on his face.

"STOP SMILING YOU IDIOT!" I hit his back with my fists. "IT'S LIKE YOU'RE USED TO THIS OR SOMETHING?!"

"Get my phone out and phone Shisui." Yuko instructed. He quickly turned the corner and jumped up a fence with one hand, going to the other side. He kept running at that insane speed he was running at.

What was he, an Olympic sprinter?!

"Where _is_ your phone?!"

"Here."

The phone was handed straight to me. It didn't have a code so I could easily go in. Like he said, I immediately phoned Shisui. I waited for a little bit until he picked up.

" _What is it, Yuko? If it's about—"_ Shisui picked up and started talking.

"SHISUI! WE'RE BEING CHASED BY ARROW AND THEIR STUPID GOONS!" I shouted into the phone.

The phone was silent for a brief moment before Shisui's surprised voice was heard from the other side, " _…Arisa?! What are you doing with Yuko's phone?"_

"Shisui. AR03." Yuko said it loud enough for the phone.

I looked at him, puzzled at what he was saying.

" _Ah…Arisa. Listen to Yuko for now. He'll get you someplace safe."_

"What's happening?!" I pressed; my voice went a higher pitch when I heard our pursuers shout, then a gunshot.

" _Listen to me, Arisa. Whatever you do, don't die. Don't get caught."_

"Shisui?! What do you mean?!"

" _Give the phone to Yuko."_

I did as he said, but not before looking at the phone in absolute disbelief. Just what was going _on_ here?!

It was like Shisui and Yuko were actually in cahoots with each other. From the sound of it, it sounded as if they had known each other for a while already.

Yuko and Shisui chatted for a little bit, but I couldn't hear them over the shouts of our pursuers.

 _Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit…!_

"Hold onto this for me." Yuko shoved the phone at me. I held onto it. Shisui wasn't on the other line anymore.

"We need to find somewhere to hide." Yuko muttered. He looked around and seemed to get an idea. Quickly, he ran towards what seemed like the way to the city - and kept going.

"Should I run by myself?" I asked.

"Nah, it's fine." Yuko responded. He was panting just slightly, but surprisingly, he was mainly fine. He kept up the same speed as before.

"They're still following us!" I see the red head taking the same corners with ease, but then he dropped out of my sight, and I couldn't see him anymore. "Sasori dropped out of my sight!"

"Hm…" Yuko hummed in response and hurried his pace just a little bit upon hearing a gunshot that hit the side wall of the alleyway we were going through. "Tough call."

"How the hell are you not getting tired?!" I push myself up so that I was able to turn around to Yuko, flabbergasted. "You're even carrying _me!_ What are you, the hulk?!"

We had been running for a while now, and I feel like we were literally going nowhere! We hadn't even outrun the people chasing us!

"I've been trained this way, sorry!" Yuko grinned at me, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face.

 _What do you mean, 'trained-this-way'?!_

I stayed silent on this matter and stared at him for a long moment, a little worried. He seemed so used to this, like it always happened or something.

"…just don't push yourself too hard. I can run by myself too, you know." I said quietly.

He seemed to have heard me, since he just laughed.

"Okay, so where exactly are we going?" I look back at the back. The fake officers were still running, but they were far behind us. But the problem wasn't them.

It was Sasori.

He had disappeared off the face of the earth, I swear. I couldn't find him anywhere, no matter what angle I looked.

 _Did he stop chasing us?_ I raised a brow in thought.

For some strange reason, I was unusually sort of calm in this situation. It was dangerous, yes, but it didn't seem too bad…I think. That might be because I don't have to think about where to run off to – Yuko's already doing that for me.

 _No, no…he said he'll kill me?_ I keep looking around, keeping a cautious eye out. _Then that can't be…he's Arrow's #1 assassin, right? Doesn't that mean he'll actually come and find me? Wait, what if he's looking for a detour? Does he know where we're going?_

 _WAIT JUST A MOMENT; ARROW'S ASSASSIN?! Doesn't that mean they were really dribbling in illegal activity?!_

 _I swear to God, if he appears out of nowhere I will scre—_

Something zoomed right past my face, so close it nearly scathed it. My eyes went wide with shock, having no idea which way it had come from. However, when I heard the sound of light tapping, from in front of me, I saw that mob of red hair that came to haunt us again.

He was holding a small blade in his hand, but it wasn't one of those conventional ones. It seemed to be only the blade part, and didn't have the handle. Instead, attached to that was a string? It was tied around his wrists and palm.

By the time I realised what was going on, I was already screaming, "HOLY SHIT!" and shouting at Yuko to run faster.

"You're not getting away this time!" Sasori threw the blade again, but this time, it was directed at Yuko's legs.

"YUKO DODGE LEFT!" I hit the man and he went to the left, just dodging the blade.

Sasori had an emotionless expression and he aimed for me instead of Yuko.

"That blade is laced with poison!" Yuko warned me.

"TELL ME THAT BEFORE I'VE DODGED IT, DAMMIT!" I literally nearly threw myself from Yuko's grip when it went directly at me, but just stopped short from actually falling off.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Yuko pulled me back up and he abruptly turned a corner. When we did, I was thrown into something so quickly like a cannonball, making a few spins before hitting something and stopping.

"Ow…" I was a little breathless from that. When I opened my eyes I could see some form of roof. "YUKO…! WHY THE HECK DID YOU THROW ME—" I stopped short when I realised I was in a car. I got into an upright position and looked out, seeing the door was partially opened.

When I see the outside, I could feel my muscles tensing at the standoff.

Fugaku, Shisui, Itachi were all there, along with a heap of other police officers that I recognised. They all held guns and Tasers, had bulletproof vests and all the like. The situation was very tense. They had surrounded the area around the area after we had turned the corner. Sasori and the fake officers were all in the middle.

On the side, I saw the officers that were knocked out in the alleyway earlier – they seemed to be wrapped in light towels and talking to _actual_ officers about their situation.

"Get out of my way!" Sasori pulled the string between his bladed weapon. Although he had an inexpressive face, the anger that rolled off his tongue was no joke.

I saw Yuko walk up beside Shisui, holding onto something. It was a gun. Just like the other officers, he raised his gun at Sasori and his troupe of fakers, closing one eye and adjusting his aim.

"Yuko…?" I pushed the car door open. "What's happening…?"

"Arisa. Stay in the car." Shisui didn't even look my way, but his tone of voice was stern. I couldn't argue with him.

I stayed where I was, silent. It was pretty much the middle of the night, but the moon's light was bright. The area we had ended up in was lighted pretty well, along with the help of the car's front lights.

"So now we finally have a face." Fugaku took a step forward. His arms were by his side, one holding a gun. It was loaded.

Sasori stayed silent, but that didn't stop him from glaring daggers at the police head.

After a moment, Fugaku spoke yet again, "You're _Scorpion_ , aren't you?"


	44. Step 44

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #44

* * *

 _Scorpion? What's that?_

I stare at Fugaku with wide eyes. Just what the hell was he talking about? Wasn't he going to capture Sasori because he was the one who blew up the dojo, tried to kill me, and Yuko too?!

Sasori only glared at Fugaku, his mouth twitching once in annoyance. He clicked his tongue. "Scorpion? What the hell's that? Why don't you keep your mouth to yourself than accuse others?"

"My, my, you make it sound like you want evidence?" Yuko sounded normal and as flirtatious as ever, playfulness hinting in his words. His tone took a 180 afterwards, becoming serious and threatening. "If you want evidence, _we have evidence_. Get off that stupid high horse of yours."

Okay, that caused chills to go down my spine. Seeing Yuko like that was scary. I was _not_ used to it.

Sasori turned his attention slowly on Yuko. He had the scariest glare, and if looks could kill, we would all be dead.

"I'll be more than happy to show you the evidence." Fugaku took another step forward and raised his arm (the one with the gun), pointing it straight at Sasori. "As long as you cooperate and you're taken to the station."

"Cooperate?" Sasori laughed out loud to those words, as if they were completely foreign to him. "Why should I cooperate with a bunch of flailing idiots?" His tone dropped deadly, like he was going to destroy something.

He took one step forward, and reached his arm out towards my way. "I don't have time for that shit." Without even moving a muscle, something came out of his arm, but I didn't see it until it came close. In a hurry, I slammed the door to the car closed, and it hit the outside, falling to the ground.

In the next few moments, Sasori had been restrained, unable to move at all. But that was only what happened after he had attempted to get out of the situation, thereby injuring many officers, including Shisui and Yuko. Although it was many to one, Sasori was very strong and held his ground.

In the end, they had captured him, and the other offenders.

I got out of the car and rushed to get out, but I heard something get crushed underneath my feet. Quickly, I looked down and saw that it was the thing that Sasori had aimed at me - along with something else. I kneel down and take a look at it, picking up the thing from the crushed remains of glass. There was something written on it.

 _ **You are not my enemy.**_

I was shocked by what it wrote, and what this seemingly meant. I shoved it inside my pocket and stood back up, going to where Shisui and Yuko were. They had some cuts here and there from the fight, and were both getting treated by the on-site medical team that were on standby.

"Shisui! Yuko!" I called, running up to them.

"Arisa." They spoke simultaneously. When they realised that they spoke at the same time, Shisui glared at him while he just grinned.

"Are you two alright?" I asked with worry. I gasped when I remembered something that Yuko said, "YOU GOT CUT RIGHT, DOESN'T THAT MEAN YOU'VE BEEN POISONED?!" I freaked, shaking them both on the shoulders. "DON'T DIE ON ME!"

"Relax, Arisa. We're not dying." Shisui laughed and brought my hand down to his lap. He held onto it. "They said that these didn't have poison on them."

"What…?" I said in astonishment. I turned to Yuko, "Did you lie to me?!"

Yuko was quick to go on the defensive, "I didn't, I swear!"

I was silent for a while, thinking about a few things. I turn back to Shisui, "You seem to know Yuko well, Shisui."

The male shrugged, glancing over at Yuko. "I guess I do know him, but I'm not sure about how _well_ I do."

I turn to Yuko, "Are you in the police force?"

"Hm…?" Yuko tilted his head like he didn't know anything. I kicked his shin. He yelped and rubbed his shin, "Yeah."

Shisui sighed helplessly and tugged on the hand he still held, "I've known Yuko for a very long time. Even from before when I went to Europe, I knew him."

I blink a couple of times before my jaw dropped open. "WHAT?!"

Yuko looked at my face and started laughing, finding my expression hilarious.

Shisui just chuckled at my reaction. He stared at my hand, then back up at me, "Yuko's come here to visit many times when we were younger. He's actually mixed, so he was going to move here one day. His parents were already part of the police force back then, too. They often talked to Fugaku about issues that either country was facing and how to combat them.

"The reason that I went to Europe in the first place, was for a type of boot camp. It was a pretty last minute choice, and it was a good place to learn from the best. That's why I went. It was where I learnt to deal with guns, Tasers among a heap of other things that are required to be an elite of the police force.

"The dorm you often saw me in was the dorm for the school that I was studying abroad in. When I had injuries on my face, they weren't actually injuries from sports. It was from boot camp training." Shisui explained.

I nodded slowly, seeing some connections here and there. I look down at his bandaged arm, seeing the shadows of muscle and a few scars here and there. "…it must have been hard, doing that for 3 whole years."

"I guess so." Shisui smiled, but it was far from happy. It switched to one where his gaze was gentle. "But seeing you helped me get through it." His last sentence was quiet enough only for me to listen to.

Upon hearing those words, my eyes widened and I could feel the heat rising to my face.

 _W-W-W-W-W-WHY AM I GETTING EMBARRASSED ALL OF A SUDDEN?! ARISA, GET A GRIP OF YOURSELF!_

Yuko whistled, grinning ear to ear, "Ari-chan, you're cute when you blush."

I shoot him a dirty look and clear my throat. "Anyhow, what about you, Yuko?"

"Me?" The flirtatious fop pointed to himself with a dumbfound expression.

"Yes, you."

"I was doing junior boot camp before I came here. They actually told me to go over here so that I could know my superiors more, and more about how this police force works from the one back home. There is a boot camp over here, too, and I had secured a spot in that. It pretty much finished around the same time as Shisui's." He sighed, "But still, it was really hard to get into the boot camp. Shisui was specifically given the opportunity to go to Europe to complete it there, and I was given one here, so we kind of swapped."

"Oh…" I nodded slowly, taking in this new information.

"Also, I came here to sweep someone off your feet." Yuko winked at me and smiled, "She's standing right in front of me."

I made a confused face, "But how would you know if I was here or not? I might as well be a figment of your imagination."

"Well, Shisui told me—" Yuko was cut off by Shisui.

"By the way, Yuko isn't a boy." Shisui smiled stiffly. He looked like he had sparkles just shimmering around him, portraying innocence.

"Not a boy?" I stared at Shisui as if he was crazy. He just nodded, grabbing Yuko's arm and pulling him over. "That's a joke, right?"

"Nope." Yuko grinned, "You should have gotten a nice feel of them when I saved you from Sasori."

I make a face when I remember the moment when Yuko had appeared there. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped the 2nd time. I opened and closed my mouth like a goldfish, unsure of what to say.

I just came up with something random to say, "So you're saying…wait, what about your voice?! And how tall you are?! And how muscular you are?!"

Shisui looked amused when I started spouting all these questions. He still had my hand.

"My voice is naturally deep like this. It's deep, but it's not, yeah?" Yuko grinned. "As for the height, my parents are tall. For muscular, I trained hard, remember?"

She was right. I was shocked. It took a while to process in my head.

 _Does that mean that I've misinterpreted her the whole time I've known her?!_

"T-Then…all those times I hurt you…" I stammered. I recall kicking her, elbowing her, pinching her…amongst other things.

"It's fine. They didn't hurt that much. I've a high pain tolerance." She smiled brightly, pointing to her shin, "Even this doesn't hurt." There was a bruise there already.

"...if you're a girl, why did you disguise yourself as a guy?" I questioned, "And for 3 years, too? How did you manage to go under the radar and keep your disguise?! That would have been really hard!"

"I have my ways." Yuko smiled secretively. "I disguised myself as a guy because all the cute girls would flock to me."

"…hah?" I had the most what-the-hell expression on my face.

"Just joking." Yuko winked and smiled when she saw my expression go weirder, "I disguise myself as a guy because people automatically think I'm a guy when they see me. Plus, it's easier for me this way; it was fun messing with you." She practically sang the last part.

"That's how it is." Shisui ended, a hopeless smile on his face. He looked a little relieved after telling me.

Yuko rubbed the back of her head, "Well, messing with you was all in good fun. What was _really_ the most entertaining was when I was talking to Shisui about you, and he got all—OOF!"

Shisui had grabbed a nearby change of clothes and chucked it at her, hitting her square in the face.

She pulled it from her face, a secret gleam in her eyes. "Oh?"

"You recalled wrong, right?" Shisui smiled. It looked a little menacing.

"No?" Yuko also held a smile, but the look on her face looked like she was toying with her prey.

"Shisui! Yuko! We're going back to question Sasori. Finish up here and let's go." One of the officer's from Fugaku's squad came up to us.

The thing that I picked up just before flashed into my head. "I'm going too! I need to ask Sasori something."

Yuko went ahead, but Shisui had stopped short a little, giving me a confused look. He and I just stared at each other for a long moment, before he sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Fine."


	45. Step 45

Wait

Step #45

* * *

Shisui's eyes glanced over at mine, still almost wondering why I was here. Yuko wasn't with us right now, he—I mean _she_ (man, I'm never going to get used to this) _,_ had gone to file some paperwork with the events that transpired, especially when we were running from the now confined red head.

 _But why did he even shoot that little note to me? First of all, why_ me _of all people? I can't do shit._

With a sigh and a hand through my hair, I peer through the window that separated the interrogation room and the observation room.

We had gone back to the station where they were interrogating Sasori. Fugaku was in there right now, asking him whatever he wanted to know. Shisui and I were in the room beyond the one sided mirror, watching and listening in. There were speakers in that room that helped us in being able to hear their conversation.

Needless to say, but Sasori stayed tight lipped about most topics, except ones that weren't related to the case at all.

"How long is uncle going to take?" I question, eyes staying on Fugaku. I had never actually been to one of his interrogations so I didn't know. Plus, it was pretty late (or really early in the morning), and I was getting tired. How long was he going to stay in there? When was I going to get my turn in asking the red head stuff?

"He should be finished up soon." Shisui answered softly.

I heave a light sigh through my nose, rubbing my temples as my eyes closed. "If you continue using that really nice soothing soft voice of yours like just now, you're going to make me really sleepy."

He only chuckled, mumbling an apology.

When I opened my eyes again, Fugaku was going to ask another question, but the only answer he got was "I'd like to speak to Arisa."

At the mention of my name, I perked up, the sleepiness suddenly leaving me. Shisui, too, seemed to be alerted. The only thing related to the current situation, and he mentions my name? What is this, a drama?

I point to myself silently, brows raised, wondering why he wanted to speak to me. Like, I wanted to speak to him, too, but I'm surprised he was the one who clearly stated it.

 _But he tried to kill me before, so…does that mean he wants to try and kill me now too?_ The corner of my lips turn downwards into a slight frown, _but he can't do that here, can he. Plus, he doesn't have any more weapons on him…I think. I mean, I hope not._

Shisui placed a hand on my head, then messed up my hair, "Be careful of what he says."

"Mhmm." I made a sound of agreement.

He took his hand off when Fugaku sighed, saying that he'll bring me into the interrogation room. When Fugaku went out, Sasori turned directly to where the one sided glass was, at me, like he knew where I was. Of course, since it was glass that was one side mirror and the other see through, I doubt he would see me.

But still, it seemed like he could very well see through.

Shisui sighed, "I can't get a read on this guy."

"Arisa, can you question Sasori? He won't talk otherwise." Fugaku opened the door to the side room, beckoning for me to come. I followed him outside to the hall. "Just try to get some motive behind this, see if you can get any information about _Scorpion_ and why he was trying to kill you." He glanced at the door, eyes narrowing slightly, then flickered his gaze to me, "We'll be listening on the other side."

He patted my shoulder reassuringly, but that pat also made me kind of self-conscious about the whole situation. What if I got something wrong? What if Sasori knows that I'm just another pawn for the police force to manipulate?

Well, it's not as bad as that, but Sasori might think otherwise. Plus, I'm doing the same thing Fugaku was going to do. I doubt he'd open up to me anyway.

Eh, I'll at least try.

With a curt nod I headed inside the room Sasori sat in. Closing the door behind me, I glance in his direction, finding those brown eyes of his watching me like a hawk, emotionless, almost like a porcelain doll. He wasn't even moving, too.

 _If I didn't know better I'd think he was a human doll or something…_ the thought of human dolls in haunted houses creeped me out.

I internally shake my head, ridding it of useless thoughts that would only hinder my thought processes and conversational flow.

"I heard you wanted to speak with me, Sasori?" I sat down on the chair, sitting up straight so that he knew my attention was on him.

Sasori stayed silent, blinking once. He looked like he was examining me, studying me, as if I was a painting on display in a museum. Then, his eyes flickered to the glass mirror and back to me in a split second.

 _Wha…is he trying to tell me that he won't say anything because he knows the others are on the other side listening in?_

Before I could continue my thoughts, Sasori lifted his hand so that it was on the table, where he beckoned for me to do the same.

For a moment, I didn't get what he meant so I just stared at him with a confused expression, wondering what the hell he was doing. It was only when he got his other hand and started drawing something on it, then beckoning me again, that I understood.

With a curious nod, I took out my hand and placed it across the table, forgetting that this guy tried to kill me.

He stared me in the eyes for a second before using his index finger to write something on my open palm. His other hand covered it from the glass mirror so that the others couldn't see. He wrote syllable by syllable, looking up when he had finished a sentence.

' _Sorry that I nearly got you and your friend.'_

When he wrote those words, I just stared absentmindedly at my palm, then up at him. Of course, I was still confused, but for a criminal to say sorry for the events that just happened was pretty rare?

He continued writing.

' _I made sure to purposely miss and not use poisons. It would be problematic if any of you died.'_

At the mention of this, I remember Fugaku mentioning Scorpion was somehow related to Sasori, and Yuko saying that his weapons were laced with poison.

I close my palm when Sasori was about to write something else, and I took his hand to write something on it as well.

' _I'm confused, Sasori. I thought you were Arrow's #1 assassin? Weren't you going to kill me?'_

' _I had no intention to.'_

' _But you really seemed like you did.'_

' _It's called acting, you idiot.'_

My eye twitches when he insults me. Even like this, he's a snarky little shit.

' _So why did you want to talk to me?'_

Sasori paused for a long moment, almost hesitating to write whatever he wanted to write. He looked up, emotionless as ever, before finally deciding for it.

' _I need the police and your help.'_

As surprised as I was, I tried not to give anything away on my face.

' _What, but why? Wait a minute, don't tell me this was what you planned from the beginning? Is this why you got caught?'_

' _That's right.'_

I press my lips into a thin line as I narrow my eyes at him, suspicious. I stare at him for a long moment, contemplating whether or not I should trust him.

Sasori let out a light sigh and continued to write something.

' _You probably won't trust me.'_

' _Damn right I don't. Who was the one who betrayed that trust in the first place, huh?'_

' _Stop being so immature. I'll tell you whatever you need to know. I'm staking my life on this, you know.'_

I ignore his comment about my being immature.

' _For all I know, this could be what you call 'acting' as well. How and why should I, or the police force, work together with you, knowing you are the #1 assassin of a company we're pursuing? You could very well be a double spy if we decide to trust you, or you could ruin us from inside out. So, then, what are your real intentions?'_

Sasori raised an eyebrow just slightly, but I could see in his eyes that he was starting to get irritated, just ever so slightly.

' _I told you already. I am staking my life, and those of my family, on this. This is precisely why I am using this way to communicate.'_

' _You don't need to go to these lengths to just tell us something like this. Even if it might be an act.'_

' _I do. Those camera systems? The security? The information that isn't already in the most encrypted of systems? Arrow is able to hack them easily.'_

I stare at my palm for a while.

' _I don't have the luxury of just talking to you all. As we exchange words, there is a chance somebody in Arrow is watching. Is that enough of an explanation to you?'_

' _No way, Reddy. I need more details. Let's start off with this: you said your family's life is at stake. What's going on there?'_

' _They're being held hostage by Arrow. However, it's not the normal hostage situation. They keep a close eye on them, and can kill them whenever and wherever they please. They seem to be living a normal life but they're monitored 24/7.'_

I keep my face neutral, even though I'm absolutely 50% sure that this is bullshit. I don't even know anymore. Should I trust him? Should I not?

I decide to let him tell me his side of the story. It's the least I could do, if he really did want to get help from the police.

' _So this is why you're working for Arrow, I presume?'_

' _That's right.'_

' _So you're being blackmailed by Arrow with the lives of your family at stake? Let me ask you this; are you able to see them?'_

' _I am.'_

' _I see. So you're backed into a corner. Who are they?'_

' _There are 4. Three are my cousins, actually. Gaara, Temari and Kankuro. The last is my grandmother, Chiyo.'_

' _So they don't know anything that is going on here? So they don't know your job as an assassin?'_

' _No. This is an underground job. My normal job is as a behind the scenes designer for hands on related things like puppets.'_

' _So if we were to help you, what kind of help were you after?'_

' _I want to take down Arrow. Of course, it's to release my family as hostages, but that is not all. There are many other things wrong with Arrow that stems from the corruption of individuals. And, that includes your father.'_

When my father is mentioned in this, I tense up just slightly.

' _So you'll let us in on information that you have acquired?'_

' _Yeah. Good bargain, don't you think?'_

' _This isn't a shopping trip, Sasori. I'm not sure whether or not you are telling the truth as of yet, so I'll need to talk to the others about this.'_

' _The only others you should tell are Shisui, Itachi and Yuko. I trust them enough to know what they're doing.'_

' _Oi, are you saying I'm not trustworthy enough?!'_

' _Why do you think I'm telling you this now, dumbass? You're not the easiest to convince but I know your type.'_

' _That sounds mega creepy you know.'_

' _I'll give you some time to figure things out. I trust you to make the right choice.'_

Sasori placed his hands back down onto his lap and closed his eyes, resting them for a moment before opening them again.

I draw my hand back and rub my palm, thinking of what I should do. Of course, Sasori telling us what he knows is and will be a good development in the police's investigation of Arrow, and it'll probably also shed some light on the reasoning behind everything and what not.

I was still wondering about the box that one of the people (the fake officer that drove off with the box uncovered from under the dojo – he was by himself) when Yuko saved me. I might have to have Sasori elaborate on that.

Plus, for some reason Sasori knows Shisui and Yuko's name and said he trusts them. That was weird, coming from an opposing faction.

I stand up and take my leave. When I was outside, I was met with the head of the police force, who had a stern expression on his face.

"What were you two doing?" Was his words. Of course he would ask that.

"I was talking to him." I answered easily.

"What did he say? Anything to aid our investigation?" Fugaku's onyx eyes bore into me, almost trying to intimidate me into revealing all the details that I had gotten.

With Sasori's words, I wonder if I should tell Fugaku or not. Ultimately, he would make decisions to help with the deployment of troops or whatnot if this ever came to a standoff or something dangerous.

However, if I told him right now, wouldn't it mean that the cameras would be able to see what we're speaking about? Arrow might even have had stuff installed here to hear our conversations.

"Fugaku-san, I'm quite tired, so I don't know if I was listening right." Actually, I was. This was just an excuse. "I'm going to retire, so I'll be in the break room."

Fugaku's gaze hardened for a long second before he sighed heavily, patting my shoulder, "Get a good rest."

He went back into the interrogation room to question Sasori further.

Shisui had come out of the side room and was asking me what happened. I told him the same as Fugaku, but also added some details that I might come in handy with him knowing a bit of the situation I had been put in.

Shisui seemed to get it. He flicked my forehead, "Go get some rest. We'll talk about this later."

"Mhmm. You get some rest too, okay?"

Shisui grinned, "I will."


	46. Step 46

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #46

* * *

I didn't even sleep a wink.

I swear, even if my eyes were closed, I could hear everything and anything, all of which prevented me from falling asleep.

Like, why?!

Opening my probably blood shot eyes, I pull myself up and wear the jacket that was on top of me, sighing through my nose.

 _Am I supposed to be resting or am I supposed to be resting?!_

 _Oh yeah, I should probably decide whether or not I'll be trusting Sasori. Is he a bad guy or a good guy? I should inform Itachi of this actually…I think. Or someone who can hack into computers and see whether or not this Sasori guy has relatives called Gaara, Temari and Kankuro. Oh, and his granny Chiyo too._

I think I might have been thinking a bit too much, because my vision was going blurry and my eyes were starting to burn.

 _I really need to sleep, or get eye drops, or both, or…urgh JUST LET THIS BE OVER AND DONE WITH ALREADY?!_

"You're awake already?" Shisui came into the break room, seeing that I was awake and sitting up. He was holding a mug of warm water. It was probably his own, but he gave it to me anyway.

"Thanks, Shi-chan." I closed my eyes and held the mug close to my face, the heat radiating off it.

"You should really sleep. It's still quite early in the morning." He was quite concerned. He sat down beside me and pulled an arm over part of my shoulder, holding my head with the other. He pulled me slowly towards him so that I was almost resting on his shoulder. "Rest."

"If you want me to rest then you should take this mug and put it elsewhere before I make you look like you've wet your pants."

Shisui let out a laugh and pried the warmth away from my hands, putting it to the side. "Alright, alright. Sleep, then."

I readjusted myself so that I was more on his back, leaning in to breathe in his scent. There was a light scent, something reminiscent of the cologne that he was using earlier, but it was comfortable, and it was, of course, Shisui.

By the time I realise what I'm doing, I'm already dozing off.

* * *

When I wake up, I realise I'm still at the police station. Rather than Shisui next to me, Itachi was above me. It surprised me when I saw him just staring down at me, watching me sleep. To be honest, it was kind of unnerving. And given that I was lying horizontally and facing up on the bench, the light was behind him, giving him this eerie kind of look, especially so since he had that bland expression on his face.

"…Shisui's gone to get some food." Itachi spoke softly.

I got up and made a space for the younger male, mumbling an apology for not letting him sit at all because I was sleeping. When he sat down next to me, I suddenly remembered what I was supposed to be thinking about (okay so it slipped my mind geez).

"Itachi," I started. The teen glanced toward my direction, only letting a low hum to signal that he was listening. I paused for a moment, recalling that Sasori said something about the cameras being spied on and the audio too.

 _Did that apply to this room too, or just the interrogation room? Hm…just to be safe._

Turning to Itachi, I leaned my head on his shoulder, facing the wall. He seemed a little surprised at first, but didn't push me away.

"Listen closely, Itachi." I whisper, only so that he could hear. "I'm not sure what to do right now. Sasori said that he was being blackmailed with the lives of his cousins Gaara, Temari and Kankuro, and his grandmother Chiyo. He said that he would help us take down Arrow and tell us what we wanted to know if we help him save his family.

"He says he's an assassin, the number one if I recall correctly. He told me that he didn't intend on killing any of us, and it was on purpose that he was caught and brought here. He only said this to me. He didn't open up to your father or anybody else. So, Itachi, what do you think? Do you think he's lying or not?" There, I had told him.

I didn't move, but Itachi did. His head turned slightly so that it made it look like he was looking at me, but only so that his bangs shielded his lips. In return, he spoke in a hushed whisper, "Trust him."

"…I thought you'd say that." I pulled away from Itachi and smiled small at him, liking that we thought the same. But, he probably had other reasons.

Itachi closed his eyes and leaned back on the wall, "Shisui?" It was the minimalist of words, but they were easy to understand after knowing him for a very long time.

I shook my head. "Not yet."

Itachi didn't say anymore, probably having deduced that, since I haven't told Shisui or Yuko, nobody else would know either.

"Oh yeah, where are my parents? They should be alarmed that something's happened to their daughter." I clap my hands together, remembering that I left the house pretty much just after midnight.

"Don't worry, Shisui's told them that you're with him." Itachi reassured. "They're also safe."

"Hopefully nothing happens to them." I thought aloud.

Everything was pretty clear to me right now, especially what happened in the early hours of today. It's already been so long. Like seriously, so many things have happened that it could have passed for an action thriller movie or something, or at least the first half of one.

"Oh yeah, what happened at the hospital this morning?" I turn to the Uchiha. He didn't change expression at all. "It was such a big fire, and the whole force was there and all that."

"Yeah, it was. _Their_ doing. We found a few witnesses saying they saw a 'doctor' that wasn't an actual doctor at the hospital, doing some things, today, yesterday, and the day before."

I instantly understood what he meant. Though, I didn't know who this 'doctor' was. But I had a guess that it was probably someone who was from Arrow, who disguised themselves as such and infiltrated it, before setting it alight. The witnesses, I'm thinking, are probably nurses or those who were working there.

"…how many casualties?"

"There are too many to count. They're probably still counting them now."

I press my lips tightly into a thin line. "Rest in peace."

"…hm."

"At that time when you guys were at the hospital, how did you get to where Yuko and I were so quickly? He—I mean, _she_ —told Shisui this code or something and you guys were all there to surround Sasori when he was chasing us." I didn't remember the code, but I do remember talking to Shisui on Yuko's phone.

"We didn't spend too long at the hospital. Father had gotten word from an anonymous tip that something was happening around where you were. We simply acted on that tip." Itachi replied.

I was quite astonished. "A tip?" My eyes widened, hoping it was who I thought it was. There was only one name that came to mind, that would want to remain anonymous.

Itachi seemed to read my mind; he nodded.

"So that's it." I nodded slowly to myself, taking in this new information like a sponge. "Oh! Speaking of what happened this morning, when I was at the dojo when that was getting burnt to the ground, some thugs that were with Sasori took this box from under the dojo, and they escaped with it. I don't know what was inside it but it seemed important enough to get away with."

"You don't need to worry about that." There was a glint in the male's eyes.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"We retrieved the box."

"You _what?_ "

* * *

 **Extra:**

Shisui blinked a couple of times, turning only his head so that he was looking Arisa's way, trying to not disturb her sleep.

 _Did she just say 'You smell delicious?'_

He pressed a cold hand to his face, trying to get the sudden heat transferred to his hand instead, "What's that even supposed to mean?"

Itachi came by the break room and raised a brow at Shisui, who was staring outside the window, his face red. Arisa was sleeping on his shoulder.

"...do you need some ice?" He kept his voice quiet so as to not disturb the girl.

"Maybe Antarctica." Shisui glanced at Itachi, seeing his eyes dance with amusement at him. "Stop it, Itachi!"

"I didn't do anything."

"Your eyes! They were laughing!"

"But eyes can't laugh."

Shisui said something incomprehensible, which made Itachi chuckle and go to the fridge, filling up a mug with water and ice.

He handed it to his cousin, "It's not Antarctica but it'll help you cool down."

"Thanks."

"Hm…" Arisa shifted in her sleep and buried her face closer to Shisui's neck, which made him tense, feeling her breath caress his skin.

Itachi stifled a laugh, taking a seat nearby to accompany his best friend. "Your face is very red."

"Don't just point out the obvious!"


	47. Step 47

Wait [Modern AU]

Step #47

* * *

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, hold up!" I put up my hand like a stop sign. "You mean you _retrieved_ that box?! The one that they ran away with?!"

I was so shocked to hear it. I thought they'd gotten away.

"Yeah, I just said that…" Itachi laughed lightly at my exaggeration.

I press a hand to my forehead, sighing in something akin to relief. It wasn't every day that Itachi was there to save the day, but when he was, _he saved the day._ Well, a fraction of it, anyway. Not too sure.

"Have you looked inside the box yet?" I pressed. It must have been something interesting or something incriminating if it was stolen so quickly, especially with a strong guard like Sasori being there to stop others from interfering.

 _Not that that was any help,_ to whoever actually planned this.

Itachi shook his head, "I only just received the notification that they got it not too long ago. It should be getting checked around now."

"They?" I questioned. "Did you guys send the special forces or something?"

Itachi just smiled lightly, "Something like that."

"I see. Any more words from Sasori?"

"Not yet. He only wants to talk to you."

"Yeah, I figured. I wonder why, though? Like I don't have anything in common with him so I don't think I really deserve anything like this…" I thought with a funny expression.

Itachi shook his head, dragging a chair and sitting down to face me. "There's nothing wrong with that. He probably has his own reasons for doing this."

"Hey, Itachi, what do you think of Sasori, anyway? You were there when we were at the dojo when we first meet him." I intertwine my fingers and lean on my thighs, waiting for his answer.

"I was suspicious." He spoke after a while.

"Suspicious? Did you see him somewhere before?" I asked. This piqued my interest. It was like Itachi knew everything, but he never spoke a word about it.

 _Just what goes on in that complicated mind of his?_

"Yeah, something like that. His kind of description was given by lots of witnesses that were at the receiving end of Arrow's antics." He added after a moment, "Not directly related incidents though."

"Fair enough. I honestly thought the name was a huge giveaway, don't you think? 'Sasori' means 'scorpion' in English, doesn't it?" I took those compulsory English lessons for a reason. I just hope they paid off.

Itachi nodded. "That's right. The police were on his trail for a long time. He's an assassin, so he takes care that he doesn't leave much evidence behind."

We were silent after Itachi finished his sentence. It was a weird thought and I probably already thought this many, many times, but how come Sasori got caught so easily? He said he wanted to get caught so he did it purposely, and he's so far co-operating.

Of course the motive was because he wanted help from the police to get his family to safety, but still, what kind of insane situation would allow for a highly sought after assassin to come willingly to the police (with a little bit of fake resistance) to get to this?

 _If I were in Sasori's shoes, how tough would this be? Honestly it'd be tough as hell._

 _And why now of all times?_

"What's with the gloomy faces, you guys." Shisui walked in, opening the lights. They were previously closed because I was sleeping and Itachi didn't open them, so it was quite bright when they were opened.

I squinted, covering the overhead of my eyes to try and adjust. Itachi just did the usual and closed his eyes for a few moments, before he was all good again.

"We were just thinking, that's all." Itachi responded.

"I think you guys need some food. Here's some breakfast." Shisui, who had come in holding a couple of bags of food, set them down on the table and began to take them out, putting them on the table.

"Is that a burger?" I sniffed the air, getting a whiff of something mouth-wateringly delicious.

My stomach rumbled and I stood up to make my way to the table, where I sat down next to Itachi to watch all the food unravel itself in front of my eyes.

"Yup. I got your favourite." He handed a perfectly wrapped burger to me after inspecting which ones where which that he ordered, and then handed one to Itachi.

He sat down, opening another box that had some drinks. Which, was just milk.

"Milk and burgers is such a weird combination…" I stare at the milk and look at my burger, wondering how it would taste. It wouldn't be _horrible,_ but it would be like, why am I eating this together when it doesn't match that well?

"Just deal with it, Ari. I just went to the closest place." Shisui rolled his eyes and started eating.

"Okay. Thank you for the meal!"

While we were eating, Yuko snuck in and tickled Shisui on the sides, but was met with no reaction.

"Don't you dare." I eyed the tall model like police woman, still trying to get over the fact that she was parading as a he the whole time because she was undercover.

Well, at least I thought so anyway.

"Aw, you're no fun." Yuko pouted and dragged a chair to sit with us. Now that I look at her from a different angle, I think: 'oh wow, she's so cool', rather than the usual 'urgh, why does he look like a glamorous fop so early in the morning'.

 _What a change of thoughts so quickly,_ I thought. _Brain, what do you even think up there?_

"Arisa, are you okay? You look like you're constipated." Yuko laughed and patted my head, while my cheeks blazed in embarrassment because Itachi and Shisui were laughing.

"I am totally okay!"

"Yeah, yeah, I totally agree with you." Shisui managed to say. He coughed, trying to get down the food before he choked.

"Ah…" He heaved a quick sigh of relief and turned to Yuko, "So, what are you doing here? How'd your treatment go?"

"They said I was all good. Not poisoned." Yuko grinned.

"I hope it doesn't leave a scar." I look at the bandages that the taller girl has.

"Aw, is Arisa caring for me? That's so sweet!" Yuko gushed. She stopped, realising something, then pointed at me with an accusing finger, "HEY! Why the hell are you so nice to me now that you've found out I was a girl all along?! You're not Arisa!"

I look at her with surprise – that was certainly a wakeup call.

"Um, what? Isn't that what you're normally supposed to say when someone injures themselves or something?" I defend.

Shisui pushes Yuko's arm down and karate chops her head so that she's sitting down. "Chill out."

"Ow."

"So, what are you doing here?" Shisui asked again.

I blink, a little dumbfounded. It was like Shisui was really used to this, and him interacting that way with Yuko was a little strange to me. Maybe it was because he's always done that to Itachi, Sasuke and I, but seeing him being so normal with another person was so weird.

 _Why am I even thinking this in the first place?_ It confused me. If Yuko was really a boy then that would make sense, but Yuko's a girl?

 _How does gender make such a huge difference in anything, anyway?_ I shook my head gently to myself.

"I'm here to report some news to Itachi, and well, to you too because you're here," She looked at Shisui dismissively, "and to my sweet little Arisa-chan." Yuko smiled at me and waved, even though she was half a metre away from me.

 _Now I know that Yuko isn't just trying to be good friends with me, she's just playing around because it's fun. Well, her personality is on the more excited side of the spectrum, after all._

"We've just looked through the box and it contains some pretty cool things." Yuko grinned. It seemed she got to see the contents too.

"Oh?" The Uchiha's and my eyes lit up at her words.

"Okay. We'll go see it when we finish our meal." Itachi kept eating.

"Yeah, you can go off first. We'll be right behind you." Shisui finished his burger and got the milk.

I had already finished my burger, and was drinking my milk slowly. "Which room is it?"

"SR3." The tall teen stood up, "Well, I'm going to go back to it. See you guys there." She waved and headed to the door, but then stopped, almost as if she remembered something.

She turned to me, "Oh yeah, don't just go defending him and stuff so easily, okay?" She smiled, but it wasn't one of those usual smiles that she wore. It was almost like a warning type of smile.

 _Him?_ I raised a brow when Yuko walked out in all her model-like glory.

"I wonder if they're talking about your dad." Shisui said, sipping some milk.

"Why would you think that?" I asked.

"Well, the box was found under the dojo." Shisui took a large slurp of milk and finished it, putting it on the table. "Who else would it be?"

"It may be related to Arrow." Itachi had just finished his burger. "Your father was involved with them so we might be able to find out something new."

"I wonder what Yuko meant when she said not to defend him, though. Is it something incriminating?" I wondered aloud.

"We'll have to see when we get there."


End file.
